YOU can tell the children at Wickford Church of England School love their school dinners.

Posters they have stuck up around the dining hall insist they are the "best in the world".

Yet head cook Jackie Boswell doesn't dish out the sort of food you would think kids love - like burgers and chips.

She cooks balanced meals, with a wide range of vegetables and side salads, plus fruit salad, or organic yoghurt, alongside the other desserts.

The school had to import its dinners from neighbouring schools following the collapse of the county-wide meals service.

Mrs Boswell said: "We used to heat it up and try to make it look nice, but it obviously didn't taste anywhere near as good. It couldn't have been too good for the children either.

"I wasn't happy with it and more and more children were opting for packed lunches."

The canteen staff were inspired by chef Jamie Oliver's campaign to improve school dinners, so decided to do the cooking two years ago.

Mrs Boswell said: "The imported dinners got so bad we had to make a decision, whether to go all packed lunches or bring back the kitchen and cook for ourselves.

"We only had a small oven with no hobs at first, but still managed to cook for over 90 children a day."

Now the children love their dinners so much they have drawn posters thanking the dinner ladies, and these are stuck all around the dining hall.

Mrs Boswell went on a cookery course at Ashlyn's Organic Farm and Train-ing Kitchen, in Ongar, which is recommended by Jamie Oliver.

She said: "One thing I noticed was that a lot of the cooks from other schools said they had trouble getting the children to eat healthily.

"I had to smile because our children actually really like fruit and vegetables.

"We certainly don't have to try to force them to eat their greens here." The school now buys its fruit, vegetables and meat from the same organic farm.

Catering assistant Anita Parker said: "We don't serve deep-fried food or fizzy drinks. Everything is cooked from scratch in our kitchen."

The school has such a good reputation for healthy dinners that cooks from neighbouring schools - which are considering catering in-house, too - often drop in.

Debbie Rogan, head teacher, said: "We take healthy eating very seriously. The children are given fruit every morning break and also sticks of carrot or cucumber.

"Their behaviour has been much better since we started cooking our own, healthier food. They certainly seem to be able to concentrate better in the afternoons."