2023 The One Show's Rising Star Silver Springs Primary Academy, Stalybridge
Chef Mr Banham is a culinary hero at Silver Springs, with the children raving about his delicious seasonal meals – which we know is no mean feat!
The school is located in a diverse community and has a high proportion of children on free school meals, so making sure they have exciting, nutritious meals every day is really important. Mr Banham delivers that and more, all with a reduced team, failing equipment and a limited budget.
It’s not only staff and children who rave about his menus, but visitors too! He’s introduced initiatives including Meat-Free Fridays, a specials board, special menu days, a Jubilee street party, and a cooking club three times a week. And Mr Banham understands that one of the best ways to encourage the children to connect with nature and understand about sustainable living is by using seasonal ingredients, which he picks from the school’s very own allotment.
He and his team know all the children individually and regularly go the extra mile for them, managing some highly specialised diets for children with special educational needs. They’ve even managed to reach the holy grail of increasing the amount of fruit, veg and salad pupils eat. We think it’s fair to say that Mr Banham has achieved a hero-like status in the school thanks to his passion and love for food.
We know Mr Banham and his team are working in tough conditions, but we hope winning this award helps you on your journey.
Judged and presented by Mary Berry and Alex Jones
We chatted to Chef Banham…
What was it like to win the award?
I was so proud, and humbled. I didn’t know we’d been nominated, so it was a big surprise. And it was great that the whole kitchen team, school and the children could share in it. I’ve become a bit of a celebrity in school: Mrs Mason, the headteacher, had ‘cooking with a celebrity chef’ as a prize for attendance… and I was the ‘celebrity chef’. I’m sure the kids were expecting Jamie Oliver, but they were just as happy with me!
What has been your secret to success in the kitchen?
I’ve been a restaurant chef for nearly 14 years, so I bring what we’d do there into the school kitchen – the organisation, following trends and making delicious food! I feel like the menu is an opportunity to educate kids. I’ve got them eating couscous when a couple of years ago they’d never even heard of it. I’ll always let them try a little bit of a new dish, so they know what they’re eating.
And the salad bar is a big success, isn’t it?
Part of the reason I started the salad bar is so the kids could choose what to eat. Before, they had to take a portion of veg, which would often end up in the bin. Now they choose something they like, which they’ll eat. Raw peppers, carrot sticks, olives, gherkins… and they love boiled eggs. We’ll also have a lot of fruit – watermelons, kiwis and strawberries too. When you see the younger ones, like aged four, with this big slab of watermelon and they’re chomping down on it, it’s amazing – because they’re getting that liquid intake too.
And we hear you ask for feedback…
Yes! The kids love to give it to me, they’re amazing! After I’ve served lunch, I’ll go and sit and chat with them. When I first started the job I’d ask the kids what they wanted, and they would ask for turkey dinosaurs and chicken nuggets. But two years on they’re asking me for sushi, chow mein and fillet steak! I mean, imagine cooking 300 fillet steaks to order! They certainly keep me on my toes.
You also hold cooking clubs, don’t you?
Yes, I have 10 children three nights a week after school, which is free of charge – thanks Mrs Mason! We’ll use fruit and veg from the allotment and cook something they can eat there and then, but also enough so they can take it home, to help the family out. I’ll do anything from making quesadillas to showing them how to poach an egg. Seeing their faces when we did this, it was so rewarding. Because unless they’ve been shown how to do it, they don’t know.
What are the kids’ favourite dishes?
Rag pudding! It’s like a traditional steamed suet pudding, stuffed with mince and veg, and then steamed – it’s from Oldham, where I’m from. But also they love fishcakes, risotto, curries, lasagne – we make them all from scratch, so we can make them healthier. My fishcakes are actually a version of what we’d serve at the restaurant, so they’re getting restaurant-quality food! I work on a three-week rota, three different dishes a day, so that’s 45 dishes over the rota, and I still struggle to get all of their favourite foods on there.
Although they don’t trust me with desserts at the minute, because I sometimes sneak veg in there. I recently made a rosemary and beetroot chocolate brownie and I put carrots in the flapjack. They still love it, though.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give school chefs?
Listen to the young people, find out what they do and don’t want. And keep making the meals for the kids.
Who’s a tougher audience – restaurant or the children?
The children without a doubt! They’ll come running up to me telling me it tasted awful – but also if it tastes amazing. They’ll also say how I could make it different.
What’s next?
I’m now working with Mrs Mason to get food on the curriculum. I can tell the days when the kids have done healthy eating in the classroom, because they’ll say, ‘I’m having that today, Mr Banham, because I’m healthy eating.’ So you can see it immediately working. I’ll cook food from the allotment for them to try in class, because then they’re seeing it from field to fork. I just want to keep making it even better for the kids. I just love my job. I wish I could do it at other schools, and help them out. School dinners don’t need to be boring.
Head teacher Deborah Mason says…
It’s truly important to me that unsung heroes within the school are recognised. So when I saw the awards, it gave me the opportunity to shine a spotlight on Chef Banham. It’s also enabled us to raise the status of school food, and ensure everybody knows how important it is.
Healthy, nutritious school meals are fundamental for learning. So it just made sense to get right behind Chef Banham and his work. It goes back to that healthy body, healthy mind,
Chef Banham’s food is delicious. And it isn’t just the take-up of kids’ school dinners that’s gone up, but the number of staff eating it too.
We’ve been advised to increase the price of school meals in line with rising costs. But we’ve always tried our best to keep them as low as we possibly can. Because if the parents can’t afford them, then it’s the kids who will struggle. With a tight budget, Steve is still making amazing meals. I haven’t given him any physical extra money, any physical extra equipment. I’ve just given him my confidence and he’s gone with it.
My tip? Be ambitious. Ask yourself, what can you achieve? Set your sights high, don’t limit yourself, and empower people to do their best.