Meatballs and pasta, tomato and lentil soup, chicken curry, creamy mushroom sauce with freshly-cooked pasta, fresh fruit purees with home-made yoghurt, oven-baked sausages and creamy mashed potatoes and carrot and swede mash.

These were just some of the offerings in the award-winning canteen of Barrow’s Chetwynde School in 2008.

Head chef Cathy Goude organised her team as they prepared meals to suit the appetites of children aged three to 18.

SERVING: Denise Ducie preparing the salad bar at Chetwynde School in 2008 after the school revamped its menu

SERVING: Denise Ducie preparing the salad bar at Chetwynde School in 2008 after the school revamped its menu

Cathy had trained at Kendal College and had been a chef at the Glen Garth Hotel in Barrow.

She had worked at Chetwynde for two years.

The catering manager was Claire Brewer, who had been at the school for two and a half years but had been in catering for 24 years.

APPLE: A youngster surveying the array of fruit on offer at lunchtime at Chetwynde School in2008

APPLE: A youngster surveying the array of fruit on offer at lunchtime at Chetwynde School in2008

The catering team of nine served 400 meals each day. And its hard work had paid off as they had beaten around 150 other schools across the UK to become Sodexo’s independent school champion 2007.

Chetwynde’s team was recognised for the quality of service and excellent catering standards it provided in the catering company’s annual Star Awards.

When The Mail visited the school, the reporter described what was on offer, including a salad bar with bowls of enticing, brightly-coloured combinations of cherry tomatoes and black olives and salads made with golden corn and chunks of peppers.

HAPPY: Pupils enjoying their lunch at Chetwynde School in 2008

HAPPY: Pupils enjoying their lunch at Chetwynde School in 2008

There were New York-style wraps – ham and pastrami with crisp lettuce and mustard mayonnaise – and also on offer were purees and yoghurt.

Vegetarians were catered for, as were any dietary requirements.

The most popular dishes with students were lasagne – which Claire said ‘goes down a breeze’– pizza, served once every three weeks, and chicken curry.

DRIVE: A publicity shot for Chetwynde School’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1994

DRIVE: A publicity shot for Chetwynde School’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1994

The steak and ale pie was also proving very popular among the pupils, and even the teachers.

While canteen staff were showing their creativity with a new menu proving popular, the school was also impressing by staging its version of the Shakespeare classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream.