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Midday Adventure

1958 , Essex (County)

Cat no. 1167

A look into healthy, freshly cooked meals at a school in Essex.

Shots of primary school children eating lunch. A bell tolls at a village school to call the children to lunch outdoors. Interior views show children washing their hands and putting on aprons as part of their 'social education'. In the dining room they stand behind their tables and say grace before sitting down. They are served lunch or, as the commentary expresses it "given the opportunity to enjoy new and interesting food". There are shots of the staff preparing food, so that the children can enjoy the pleasures of food cooked and served to perfection. The film then looks in detail at the preparation of food through the perspective of a school meals assistant arriving for her first day at work. 'Mrs. Crossley' is met by the supervisor and taken through basic hygiene routines. There must be no smoking and jewellery must be removed. All clothing must be covered by the overall and a cap must cover hair completely. Mrs. Crossley then washes her hands. The film gives a typical menu for the day. Roast lamb and mint sauce with roast potatoes, carrot and cabbage followed by apple tart and custard. (Actually the potatoes are par-boiled and fried!) We see the vegetables, meat and fruit prepared using various items of industrial catering machinery. The cabbage is shredded so that the vitamin content is retained to the full. Having been shredded it is boiled for 10 minutes and then left standing for a further ten minutes before the children come in to eat. The film shows several methods of serving school dinners. The first shown is Family Service. One of the older children collects food for the whole table and serves the younger children. Another, operated in smaller primary schools is Trolley Service where the kitchen staff serve the children individually from a trolley in the dining hall. The Cafeteria Service, where the children are served at the hatch, allows a choice of meals. The film features a secondary school where the midday meal is incorporated into the House system. Back in the kitchen the staff wash up and a sample meal is preserved so that in the event of food poisoning school meals can be readily exonerated from blame. The supervisor maintains her records and accounts. The dry ingredients are prepared for the next day and the staff go home. As they leave the commentary extols the virtues of a job in school catering. Basically the pay is low and for thirteen weeks of the year you only receive half of your basic salary, but you are home for the children and there is job satisfaction!

Keywords

School meals

Manifestations

Midday Adventure

  • Barcode
    INV393117
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:21
    Modification Date
    27/09/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    729888
  • Barcode
    INV363483
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:21
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
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  • Barcode
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    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:21
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
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  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV339960
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    DV digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:21
    Modification Date
    20/05/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    712426
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV434624
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    master digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:21:25
    Modification Date
    18/05/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    712252
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV171162
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 246
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    Umatic tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    22/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    673136
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV167270
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 82
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    Umatic tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    21/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    672773
  • Barcode
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    Canonical Identifier
    VP-1118
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    563676
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV467030
    Canonical Identifier
    A-1025
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Details
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Colour Type
    bw
    Has Image
    Y
    Has Sound
    Y
    Identifier
    Image Polarity
    positive
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    561761
    Sound
    sound
    Sound System
    variable density

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