Some nurseries in England and Wales are serving processed foods, sugary drinks and foods high in additives, salt and fat, a survey has indicated.

It found foods such as crisps, chips and biscuits - banned or restricted in schools - appeared on nursery menus.

The Soil Association campaign group and organic food company Organix surveyed 487 nursery workers and 1,773 parents.

The Westminster government questioned the reliability of their findings and said meals must, by law, be healthy.

The survey suggested the average amount spent on food in the nurseries was £1 a day per child.

But 3% of them were found to be spending as little as 25p a day.

One fifth of the nurseries in question did not inform parents what food was being served during the day.

Oil-rich fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel or sardines were only served in 8% of them.

Of the parents surveyed, 21% described the food at their nursery as poor or mediocre.

Regulation

The Soil Association and Organix are calling on the government for tighter regulation of pre-school food provision.

But England’s Department for Children, Schools and Families said the education watchdog for England, Ofsted, had rated the majority of early years providers as good or outstanding in relation to providing a healthy diet.

"We would question whether a self-selecting online survey provides more reliable findings than Ofsted about the quality of food and drink," a spokesman said.

"We agree it is important that all childcare settings support parents in helping young children develop healthy habits.

"That is why it is a legal requirement in all childcare settings, including childminders, nurseries and day care, that where children are provided with meals, snacks or drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious.

"It is also a legal requirement that fresh drinking water must be available at all times, that children should be encouraged to try healthy food, that messages about healthier food choices are reinforced and that children are involved in the preparation of food."

‘Indefensible’

Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett said the quality of food given to children in nurseries had been overlooked.

"Children under five are at their most vulnerable. It is then they really need healthy food.

"This report sets out what nurseries, parents, and the government must do to make sure every child gets the healthy food they need for a healthy start in life."

The founder of organic food company Organix, Lizzie Vann, said: "The state of food in too many nurseries is indefensible.

"The government must take responsibility for food in nurseries as they have in primary and secondary schools, and substantial changes must be made urgently. Our children deserve nothing less."

The American firm at the centre of this summer’s exams fiasco for national curriculum tests has lost its five-year contract to mark the papers.

ETS Europe, which failed to deliver the results on time, has also agreed to repay £19.5m to the Qualification and Curriculum Authority, the tests watchdog, as a result of the chaos. In addition, it will cancel invoices and further charges of £4.6m to the watchdog.

The decision to dissolve the firm’s five-year contract was welcomed by teachers’ leaders. However, the firm is still expected to receive £15m, as the first year of its contract was worth £39m.

Last night there were no clues as to who would be administering next year’s tests, with the QCA saying that details would be announced in the autumn.

Two of the biggest exam boards, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and the Oxford and Cambridge and Royal Society of Art (OCR), have said they want nothing to do with the contract.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "This is very welcome news and many schools who have still not received complete results will undoubtedly feel some sense of vindication."

However, he added: "The testing and examination system is sinking under its own weight and it is time for the Government to examine seriously how it can streamline the assessment regime and again make it fit for purpose."

Many teachers’ leaders – backed by the Liberal Democrats – have argued that the Government should scrap the tests for 14-year-olds to ease the pressure on the system. Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman, said: "I hope that instead of finding another company to mark future key stage three test papers [for 14-year-olds] the Government will scrap these expensive and unnecessary tests altogether."

She added: "ETS demonstrated pure incompetence when it came to marking this year’s tests. Many children are still waiting for their results which are now nearly six weeks late. Ministers must confirm that ETS will not receive a single penny for the fiasco."

Dr Ken Boston, chief executive of the QCA, said: "ETS Europe was selected due to the strength of their worldwide experience in delivering large-scale assessments. "

Zoubir Yazid, managing director of ETS Global BV, the parent company, said: "ETS Europe has apologised to schools for the delays in marking national curriculum assessments in England." He added that the quality of this year’s marking had nevertheless been high.

Yesterday the QCA confirmed some scripts were still missing six weeks after the deadline for marking – 98.9 per cent of the tests had been delivered and 95.2 per cent of those for 14-year-olds. The Schools minister, Jim Knight, said: "I am very pleased that the contract has now been terminated. It is disappointing that the issues with this year’s national curriculum test results have meant that the partnership between QCA and ETS must end early."

By Richard Garner
Saturday, 16 August 2008

The schools system in England is failing poorer children "at every turn", says the Shadow Schools Secretary, Michael Gove.

He says initiatives to close social inequalities in exam results and staying on rates are not succeeding.

But the Conservatives say they have no plans to scrap the maintenance allowance to keep youngsters in school.

Schools Minister Jim Knight says that "Tory policies would simply preserve excellence for the few".

Mr Gove’s speech asserted his party’s commitment to strengthening family life, promoting responsible fatherhood and supporting children from the most deprived backgrounds.

‘Opportunity gap’

"Schools should be engines of social mobility, the places where inherited disadvantages are overcome and individual talents can be nurtured to make opportunity more equal," Mr Gove told the IPPR think tank.

"But the record of this government has been of inequality growing, and the opportunity gap widening, between the fortunate and the forgotten.

"In the last year for which we have figures the gap at GCSE between the performance of students in the 10% of wealthiest areas and the 10% of poorest areas doubled."

Mr Gove’s speech highlighted the lack of success for pupils on free school meals at the basic level and among the high-flyers.

He warned that 47% of such poorer pupils did not achieve a single GCSE at grade C - and that only 176 pupils eligible for free school meals had achieved three A grades at A-level - less than 1% of the total.

The Conservatives have also argued that there has been too little progress in poorer pupils staying on at school beyond the age of 16, despite the introduction of the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

But a party spokesman said that there were no plans to stop the EMA, which gives financial support to keep youngsters in education.

Mr Gove also spoke of his support for the Sure Start scheme to help families with young children.

Deadline

Schools Minister Jim Knight rejected the claims that the government is failing to tackle the achievement gap between rich and poor pupils.

He pointed to the current "National Challenge" which has set a deadline to ensure that all secondary schools in England, including those serving the most deprived areas, achieve at least 30% of pupils getting five good CGSEs.

Individual catch-up lessons in reading, writing and maths, the forthcoming Diplomas and raising the leaving age to 18 would all be steps to supporting children from poorer backgrounds, he said.

"If the Tories were serious about improving outcomes for the poorest children, they would support our plans to strengthen local children’s trusts, drop their pledge to cut funding to Sure Start and finally commit themselves to our ambitious targets on child poverty."

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