Students Lead on Food Sustainability

During Monday’s whole school assembly, the senior prefect team addressed the Shiplake community to highlight an important initiative – food waste reduction.

Led by Zac McConkey, Febe Fisher, Hamish Arnold and Zak Powell students decided to act after a catering meeting with Thomas Franks staff and the bursar. They discovered that Shiplake could save over 73kg of food each week by initiating a community led, food waste reduction effort.

But our students aren’t just raising awareness - they’re leading change. So, what’s being done? Hamish outlined a three-step plan:

• Portion Awareness – Posters in the lunch hall will encourage students to choose the right portion size: small, normal, or large.
• Zero-Waste Days – Catering staff will participate in a zero-food-waste day, by creatively using items such as peelings and stems, turning them into delicious dishes.
• Food Council – A new student-led council will meet every half term with catering staff to ensure food quality remains high and waste stays low.

To make sure every voice is heard, a survey on food standards will be sent to all pupils. Feedback will go directly to the catering team, ensuring student input shapes future improvements. The changes made will result in continued quality of catering with a lower environmental impact. Reducing waste could save thousands of pounds and significantly cut carbon emissions - helping Shiplake become even greener.

This initiative reflects Shiplake’s commitment to sustainability and student agency. By reducing waste, we protect the environment and reinvest savings into continually improving food quality for everyone. As Zac concluded: “If we cut down on wastage, this money will go back into the quality of our food.”

Shiplake students are proving that small individual changes can make a big difference - for our community and our planet.