AS the nation’s PE teacher, Joe Wicks usually heads straight for the gym when he visits a school.
But the celebrity fitness coach made a beeline for the canteen on a surprise trip to Wyre Forest this month.
The 37-year-old dropped in at the school for children with wide-ranging special needs.
It was to give its cook, ex-Army chef James Sommerville, and his colleagues the news they had been named Britain’s best school catering team.
The award was among eight categories in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s inaugural Good School Food Awards.
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Earlier this year, we teamed up with Jamie, 48, to launch a nationwide hunt for Britain’s best school chef.
Joe was inspired to serve as a judge in the competition because of the huge impact free school meals had for him as a child.
He has previously spoken openly about how life at home could be challenging for him and his two brothers when growing up.
His dad Gary struggled with heroin addiction and depression and his mum Raquela, a social worker, needed therapy for OCD.
Joe said: “Life could be chaotic at home, meaning when I got in it was often frozen food or fast food that was easiest to grab for dinner.
“I was on free school meals at school, so that lunch was very important. Especially for a kid with as much energy as I had.
“That is why I am delighted to celebrate school cooks like James, who do so much to help give our kids a great start.
“I love visiting schools, it always gives me a huge boost and I know how important food is for fitness.
‘Sweet talk dinner ladies’
“I am usually visiting PE lessons, but today it is really important to show just how important children having good nutrition is for their learning and health. In a school like this it is especially important.”
Joe has fond memories of his own dinners when he was at primary school in Epsom, Surrey.
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He said: “I remember queuing up with my token and later a card with money loaded on to it. I was always quite cheeky as a kid and able to sweet talk the dinner ladies into giving me an extra Yorkshire pudding or something.
“I remember an amazing butterscotch tart I used to love, Angel Delight and getting a Sunday roast dinner on a Wednesday.”
James has only been here 12 months but he’s changed this kitchen. The kids adore him. They love his salad bar. And he doesn’t waste anything.
Dinner lady Carla
Children’s nutrition is an issue that has become even closer to Joe’s heart since becoming a dad to kids Indie, four, Marley, three, and Leni, nine months.
He and wife Rosie, 32, a former model, are keen to expand their family even further.
Joe said: “I absolutely love being a dad. We would love to have four, we might have a bit more of a gap but we would love to.
“I always involve the kids with cooking and it makes them more adventurous with food.”
Queuing up at the lunch hatch behind the children at Wyre Forest in Kidderminster, Worcs, a grinning Joe took school cook James by surprise to present him with his Sun-branded trophy on his lunch tray.
Dad-of-one James, 41, from Worcester, told The Sun: “I can’t believe this. I’m amazed to have been given this award.
“But really my biggest reward is just getting to do this job every day. I am blessed to be able to do something that is my hobby.
“And it is the closest I think I will get to being treated as a rock star by all the kids, who are just an absolute pleasure every day to cook for.”
James and a team of three dinner ladies, Carla Hammond, 62, Lynda Boswell, 54, and Alison Clarke, 66, cook for almost 300 pupils every day.
Being at a special needs school means the chef has to take a whole range of dietary requirements into consideration, which includes puréeing food for some.
Joe, who has visited schools up and down the country since his YouTube “PE with Joe” videos were a smash hit during the pandemic, said: “It is lovely to see how James makes such a difference to a kid’s life through food.
“His passion really makes a difference. His story really stood out to me when I was judging and so I wanted to come and meet him.”
In February we helped launch Jamie Oliver’s first Good School Food Awards, which recognise excellence in school catering.
We appealed for entrants for The Sun’s Catering Team Champions and were flooded with brilliant stories.
Frances Phillips, a maths teacher at Wyre Valley, nominated James.
I’m amazed at this award. But my biggest reward is
Chef James
just getting to do this job every day. I’m blessed to be able to do something that’s my hobby.
She said: “When I read about what Jamie and The Sun were looking for, I thought, ‘That’s James and his team’.
“What they do every day is amazing. They are more than school cooks. James makes the children’s lunchtime every day a joy. He always wants to hear the feedback of every child about what they like and what they don’t and then tailor their food.
“For instance, there was one little girl who they noticed wasn’t eating her sandwich, so they found out why and it was because she didn’t like the crusts.
“So now they cut them off for her. And they remember everything!
“In a school like ours, these kinds of details make a huge difference.
“If a child with, say, autism has something on their plate they don’t like, they might refuse the whole meal, rather than just leave that food. The team remembers all these little things, like if a child doesn’t like their baked beans to touch other food, and make sure it is as they like it.
“And there is a huge range of dietary needs to cater for.
“I have a child who is allergic to red-skinned fruit. They remember it all.”
Carla, who works with James in the kitchen, added: “He has only been here for 12 months but James has changed this kitchen. The kids absolutely adore him.
“He realised the kids love to hear music when they eat lunch so he plays the radio and we even have some dancing. He introduced the salad bar, which they love. And he doesn’t waste anything. He is brilliant.”
James recently prepared a street party for pupils in the playground to mark King Charles’s Coronation.
He also works in the holidays when the school opens for pupils.
And James invites the children to take up work experience with him in the kitchen.
‘Beyond my expectations’
He said: “It is really important for life skills and confidence and preparing them for the future.”
On the day of Joe’s visit, 19-year-old sixth-former Freya Shaw, who has Down’s Syndrome, was working with the team in the kitchen.
She said: “I love working with James, he is really funny.”
Wyre Forest headteacher Rebecca Garratt said: “We are over the moon for James and it was such a thrill for all the children to have the surprise visit from Joe.”
Along with the trophy, which will take pride of place in the Wyre Forest kitchen, the team won a set of Tefal cooking equipment, worth £4,000, and the chance to have their favourite recipe printed in The Sun.
Jamie Oliver launched The Good School Food Awards because he wanted to champion excellence in school food.
The television chef first campaigned for better school dinners 20 years ago and now wants to highlight those getting it right.
Jamie said: “School kitchens are Britain’s biggest restaurant chain. They serve up five millions meals a day. Professional chefs would really struggle with it.
“These awards are about shining a light on the best.
“It was fantastic to receive so many brilliant nominations — it was beyond my expectations.
“James and his team are such worthy winners of The Sun’s Catering Team Champions. He has gone above and beyond.
“They cater for hundreds of kids a day with complex needs in a place where quality food makes such a difference to development and health.”
Wyre Forest’s sweet potato & pepper chilli (serves 6)
Total time: 1 hour
YOU NEED:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 green pepper
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 sweet potatoes (500g total)
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 400g tin of kidney beans
- 2 tsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp garlic purée
METHOD: Place a large pan on a medium-low heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil.
Peel and finely chop the onion and deseed and chop the pepper.
Add the onion and pepper to the pan, along with the chilli powder, cumin and smoked paprika.
Stir and cook until soft, around 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into bite-sized chunks and add to the pan, along with the chopped tomatoes, a tin’s worth of water, the kidney beans (juices and all) and the tomato and garlic purées.
Stir everything together, then bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sweet potato has softened, but still holds its shape, and the sauce has thickened – around 30 minutes.
Season to taste with a tiny pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
Delicious served with fluffy rice or taco shells, guacamole, grated cheese and a sprinkling of finely chopped fresh chilli and spring onion.
