Greenacres by name, green fingered by nature: the school with its own ‘cafe’

A new Kids Café which aims to allow children and their families to get green fingered has opened at a primary school in South-east London.

The Kids Café at Greenacres Primary School, based in Witherston Way, Eltham, gives children the opportunity to create recipes and sell the food they cook and produce.

The Greenacres Kids Café, which was praised in the school’s recent Ofsted report, is open on the first Monday of every month after school.

Joanne Wilkinson-Tabi, headteacher at Greenacres, said: “We believe it is part of our role as a school to support mental well-being, and a big part of that is eating healthy, nutritious meals. We use the slogan ‘Good Food, Good Mood’.

“The original idea for the Kids Café came about four years ago. We began by tasking each class with designing a healthy recipe that they could make and sell to parents and carers after school.

“During lockdown, we turned our outside area into gardening beds and converted our outside hut into a hothouse for growing plants. Then, when school returned to more normality in September 2021, we focused on planting and growing our own fruit and vegetables.”

Joanne added: “Last summer we ran a tomato-growing competition. We challenged each class to produce a healthy tomato-based dish that they could sell to parents at the Greenacres ‘takeaway’ – including pizza, tomato pasta, and a feta and tomato flan. The class with the most popular dish won a prize.

“It was a great way to bring seasonality into their understanding, using crop we had grown in school and boost their entrepreneurial skills.”

The Kids Café has proved a hit with children, parents and carers alike.

“The children absolutely love it,” Joanne said. “They have been enjoying ‘pick your own’ sessions during playtime and lunch times – sampling foods including berries, sugar snap peas, courgettes and strawberries – having been taught what is safe to pick.

“We’ve also had overwhelming support from parents and carers, who have donated seeds and herbs, old pots, and gardening equipment. We’d like to get chickens next, so children can learn more about caring for animals – and we can enjoy fresh eggs in school.”

The school is now applying for funding from the local council to purchase a hatch shed to be the new, permanent home for the Greenacres Kids Café.

Pictured top: Archie Seaton, Eathan Wilkes and Ujunwa Ekenulo at work in the cafe (Picture: Philip Heartfield)