Caterers and School Zones

Thank you for running special events in your dining rooms during NSMW25, you really helped make it a great success!

National School Meals Week (NSMW) is the one week of the year when we celebrate all that is GREAT about school food. Each year has a different theme based on relevant issues and fun events to get everyone enjoying school food. This year it is skills for life. Staying for a school lunch is more than just a meal on a plate, they provide social skills you can take forward after the week is over.

The date for NSMW26 will be announced in the coming weeks, please keep checking back and following the socials 

Get involved in NSMW26 by:

• Run special events throughout the week, use some of ours or create your own.
• Download the free resources and edit to suit your events. Go to the resource section
• Share pics and stories of your service across social media
• Send us stories for the website
• Invite your local MP, VIPS and special guests for a special meal to show how great school meals are.

Spread the word on social media

Please let us know what you will be doing to celebrate NSMW 2025?

Share your plans, ideas, and photos with us on social media:

• Facebook @LACA-the school food people
• X @LACA_UK
• Instagram @theschoolfoodpeople
• LinkedIn /laca-the-school-food-people

Hashtags: #theschoolfoodpeople #greatschoolfood #mindfulmeals

Promote school food all year round 

You can keep promoting school meals and making a difference throughout the year. There are a lot of activities and information leaflets in the resource section, you can download and complete in lesson times or during the school lunchtimes. The event always happens in November, there will be many wet lunchtimes where schools are looking for activities to do with students.

Please tag us into everything you do and we can share and help you promote your events.

The School Food People’s Calendar of events

You can use the website all year round, you will find free resources and activities and recipe ideas which can help with themed events, visit the resource pages for ideas. The School Food People have introduced a themed calendar with 12 themes that can be used in addition to your planned events or used to create a sustained campaign. Visit the homepage for full details and have a browse through the resource bank.

Making theme days easy and fun

Theme days are easy to run and don’t need to cause extra time and expense. Tweaking existing menus, renaming dishes and adding activities which can be downloaded for free can make your event great fun and simple to run. Dressing up yourselves and the servery always adds fun to the day.

Use social media to promote school food

Most people use social media daily, so why use it for any promotion you are running. Use images of your food and events to capture attention, a picture says a 1000 words. Use hashtags and tag The School Food People on all posts. Encourage parents and staff members to share too. See above for details.