The eatwell plate tray guide

Welcome
This is a simple guide to help you integrate the eatwell plate into a whole school approach to healthy eating. This guide seeks to explain the rationale of the tray in schools, as well as provide practical, realistic dining room and classroom opportunities for its use.
Rationale
  • Promote the philosophy and principle of the eatwell plate throughout the whole school
  • Deliver consistent messages about food choice, the food groups and the proportions of food that compromise a well balance diet.
  • Provide a central food model for the school to adopt – ensuring that dining room food choice reflects, builds-upon and echoes classroom teaching and learning
  • Benefits
  • Consistent, up-to-date and accurate messages about healthy eating.
  • Other national educational programmes and initiatives use the eatwell plate, e.g. Healthy Schools.
  • The eatwell plate is based on robust science and research.
  • It is for everyone – pupils, staff and parents from primary, secondary and special schools.
  • The model is very visual and easy to understand (this is particularly helpful for pupils with special needs or English as a second language.
/ What is an eatwell plate tray?
Quite simply, it is a tray with the image of the eatwell plate printed on top. The eatwell plate is the healthy eating model for the UK, and is used in the Healthy Schools Programme, as well as the Department for Children Schools and Families Food in Schools primary training, Licence to Cook in secondary schools and is embedded in the Food Standards Agency Core Food Competences for children and young people aged between 5 and 16+.
The tray provides a direct and frequent opportunity for the promotion of the eatwell plate. Intended primarily for the dining area, where pupils will utilise the tray, it has valuable uses as an educational resource throughout the school to further consolidate its image and meaning. The tray can be used in different areas of the school, e.g. the classroom or library, as well as during school events such as parent evenings.
The eatwell plate makes healthy eating easier to understand by showing the types and proportions of foods needed to make a well balanced and healthy diet. Although aiming to achieve this balance every day is a sensible and practical approach, it is not necessary to achieve it at every meal, but is very useful to help people think about their food choices at different meal occasions, e.g. breakfast, lunchtime. The balance could, however, also be achieved over the period of perhaps a week.
Background information
The eatwell plate does not include references to frequency of serving and recommended portion sizes, other than in relation to fruit and vegetables - at least five portions of a variety a day - or fish - eat two portions a week, one of which should be oily. This is in accordance with the available evidence, and is advice aimed at the population level.
  • Some foods may fit in more than one food section, e.g. pulses in the meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein group, as well as contributing to 5-a-day in the fruit and vegetables group.
  • For composite foods/meals, e.g. chicken stir fry with rice, the chicken would fit in the meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein group, the vegetables in the fruit and vegetables group, and rice in the bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods group. Pupils may require support to understand this aspect.
  • It is important to eat a variety of foods from the food groups.
  • Background information can be found at: eatwell.gov.uk
Ideas for using the eatwell plate tray in school
Dining room
  • Raise the profile of the tray, perhaps by having a display next to the tray collection point. Encourage pupils to review the tray before making their food choices and final selection.
  • While selecting food, catering staff, pupils and teachers could be made aware of the food groups, ensuring that a well balanced meal is being chosen. The following questions could be asked:
  • What is missing from your tray?
  • Do you have enough starchy foods in your meal?
  • Do you have a dairy food?
  • Why did you make that choice of food?
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  • Label the food choices on offer in the dining room with the food groups from the eatwell plate. This can be especially helpful for students to understand the food groups in composite dishes/meals. This will help pupils to visually recognise and relate to which food groups they have selected, and easily indentify those which are missing.
  • Create a display in the dining room based on the eatwell plate. Show how the menu reflects the main messages and food groups of the plate. Photographs of previous school lunches could be shown – helping to identify how the food groups of the eatwell plate are covered. Pupils can be involved in creating the display.
  • Encourage pupils to keep a food diary for a week using the eatwell plate. Pupils can evaluate their week by using questions such as: Which food groups are missing? Why? What choices can they make in the future to help?
School
  • The eatwell plate tray could feature in an assembly. Several assemblies could potentially be developed around the introduction of the message of the trays, as well as individual food groups. Pupils could play an active role, as well as the catering staff, in the promotion of the eatwell plate trays.
  • Ensure that all staff are aware of the eatwell plate and tray. This may involve running staff CPD sessions to ensure that the important messages of the plate are understood and consistency conveyed to pupils. A local health professional could be invited to speak briefly on the eatwell plate. Staff should be motivated to encourage the use of the trays in the dining room and monitor changes in food selection.
  • The trays can play an important high profile feature in open days for prospective parents, carers and their families. It can help to demonstrate the schools’ holistic and consistent approach to health through the promotion and use of the eatwell plate. Current pupils can demonstrate how the trays are used in the dining room to help them make balanced meal choices. Examples of dishes could be used to tempt parents and carers to take part.
  • Using the trays in school events, for occasions where the school provides refreshments, will further promote the eatwell plate message, e.g. open/parent evenings. A range of foods could be offered to demonstrate the principles of the eatwell plate, e.g. different breads, vegetable sticks, dairy based smoothies, home-made hummus.
  • Sell the eatwell plate trays at events to provide parents/carers with the opportunity to literally take the healthy eating message home.
  • The trays could be given to pupils as part of an incentives scheme at the school.

Curriculum
  • Design and technology
  • Introduction to the eatwell plate and its food groups.
  • Identify ingredients and composite dishes/meals in relation to the plate.
  • Evaluate menus from around the world using the eatwell plate – focus on culture and cooking methods.
  • Use the tray to evaluate different meal occasions, e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner.
  • Use the trays in food technology rooms to display ingredients.
  • Science
  • Link food groups to basic understanding of energy and nutrients.
  • Identify the nutrients in each of the food group. Research how these nutrients are used by the body.
  • Use the eatwell plate messages to explain the relationship between diet and good health and the importance of food safety.
  • Geography
  • Plan a new eatwell plate for a different country using foods commonly eaten there.
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  • PSHE
  • The eatwell plate tray could be used as a stimulus for discussion on healthy food choice and decision making.
  • The eatwell trays can be used in pupil role play sessions about making healthy food/choice decisions or dealing with peer pressure.
  • Design and create displays for the library or dining area to promote healthy eating messages.
  • Analyse the balance of foods in a fad diet using the eatwell plate.
  • Using the tray to plan diets for the needs of other people.
  • Mathematics
  • Calculations relating to student’s food diary of the eatwell plate, e.g. percentage of food groups, frequency of foods eaten, average portions of food groups.

Sources of further information
Eatwell
eatwell.gov.uk
The eatwell site provides clear information on the key message of the eatwell plate and specific information on each food group.
Food Standards Agency food competences –
These competences apply to young people aged between 5 and 16+. They provide a framework of the core skills and knowledge students should gain in relation to food and cover healthy eating, consumer awareness, food safety and cooking skills. The eatwell plate is an integral part of this framework.
Healthy Schools -
The national healthy schools program is an exciting long-term initiative that promotes the link between good health, behaviour and achievement.
5 A DAY –
The campaign to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day has been very successful and information about the campaign can be gained from many different sources. / Food – a fact of life -
Provides a variety of free online resources for teachers to support the teaching of the eatwell plate in the classroom. PowerPoint presentations and worksheets can be downloaded and used for all ages, from 3 to 16 years.
Licence to Cook -
This website is useful for providing secondary teachers with resources to support the teaching of the eatwell plate, as well as cooking. Interactive activities, as well as PowerPoint presentations are available.
Active Kids Get Cooking
This programme provides classroom activities that can be run throughout the year in the primary and secondary classroom. The resources support the healthy eating messages of the eatwell plate.
Acknowledgements
This guide has been developed in association with the British Nutrition Foundation. The eatwell plate was produced by the Food Standards Agency and is subject to crown copyright protection.
© Crown copyright 2009