A PRIMARY school is casting out its catering firm so it can run its own school meals service and provide pupils with healthy dinners, freshly cooked on the premises.

It hopes to use local suppliers and would also like to invite parents and grandparents to join the youngsters for meals.

Jim Holditch, head teacher at Headcorn Primary, said: "It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but we had to wait till KCC’s five-year contract with the current firm expired."

From September, the school is employing its two cooks, Kim Phipps and Kim Girscher, directly, and engaging the Contract Dining Company as agents to oversee the operation.

Mr Holditch said: "Both our cooks do the very best they can at present, but the trouble is that all the food is supplied ready processed and part-cooked."

He added: "All you saw on Jamie Oliver was absolutely right.

"Both our cooks are parents with children at the school and they would love to provide proper, wholesome, freshly cooked meals. From September they will be able to do it."

The school intends to begin using established suppliers, but wants to switch to new local growers for its meat and veg as soon as possible.

Mr Holditch said: "For several years, parents have been coming up to me and saying 'Can’t you do something about the school dinners?'"

Mr Holditch said that "very few" pupils currently took school dinners - "I don’t eat them myself" - but predicted that would completely change.

Mr Holditch said: "The opportunities are endless. The children already grow their own vegetables in ecology class. Won’t it be wonderful for them to take them along to the kitchen and have them cooked for lunch?"

One of the school’s ambitions is to invite parents and grandparents to join pupils for lunch on a regular basis.

Mr Holditch said: "We will have them in at least once a week and as frequently as we can manage. It’s useful for the children to sit down with different generations."

Ann Wynn, a co-director at the Contract Dining Company, said: "We currently help three schools in Kent with their school dinners, but we expect four more to join us in September."

Mr Holditch said: "I know a number of other schools in the area will be watching us very closely. If all goes well, I expect they will follow suit."

*KCC currently has contracts with five companies to supply meals to schools in the county: Initial Catering, Independent Catering, Cater Link, Chartwells and Scholar Rest.

No-one at the catering company nor the county council was available to comment.