25 June 2026
Queen Eleanor Primary Academy, Northampton, welcomed guests this week to share all about their Food for Life activities and celebrate achieving a Silver Food for Life Schools Award. Highlights of their work include a whole school Cultural week themed ‘Many cultures, one community’ in which they created a recipe book celebrating family heritage and held a community dining event to try new foods.
This achievement has been made possible through the dedication to healthy and sustainable food by the school caterers, Caterlink. Holding the Silver certification across all their primary schools, over 1200 schools, the only contract caterer to have this number of sites currently. Demonstrating a commitment to sourcing and serving food that is better for climate, nature and health. Schools require caterers to hold a Food for Life Served Here certification at any level to achieve the Silver and Gold School Award.
“Achieving our Food for Life Served Here Silver accreditation has supported us to deliver our educational work in schools. It has encouraged us to deliver more sensory and tasting sessions, and Food Heroes, where we focus on a seasonal vegetable and have raw and cooked samples for the children to try, all of which help children understand where their food comes from and how to make healthier choices.
We’ve also been able to support a range of Public Health initiatives, including increasing fibre intake and boosting plant points across our menus. Just as importantly, our commitment to sourcing from sustainable, local suppliers, including higher‑welfare, Red Tractor‑assured meat, ensures that the food we serve reflects our values.
The accreditation hasn’t just recognised our efforts; it has empowered us to do even more for schools and communities.”
The Soil Association’s Policy Team joined the visit to see and hear what a Food for Life School which works in partnership with their Food for Life Caterer is like. As well as hear the impact of this for the children, staff and the wider community. All the guests were treated to a school lunch with the pupils, to experience firsthand what is possible with dedicated and passionate cooks and caterers.
We feel very fortunate to have Caterlink as our catering partner here at Queen Eleanor Academy. Their Silver Food for Life Served Here certification reflects a genuine, daily commitment to serving our children fresh, high-quality and nutritious food that they thoroughly enjoy. What sets the partnership apart is the way the school and the catering teamwork hand in hand.
The additional support of the workshops has been a real highlight, giving our pupils the chance to learn where their food comes from, why it matters and how to make healthy choices. Seeing the children so engaged, curious and excited about food has been wonderful. Together, the school and our caterers are giving every child the very best chance to eat well, develop healthy habits and understand the importance of good food - and we're proud to be part of that journey.