Great to chat to colleagues about all things #schoolmeals at the first ever Faculty of Social Sciences Research Showcase today at @sheffielduni.bsky.social. And to find so many unexpected connections between colleagues' research and our own @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social project! ✨️🍎 #histed

Paulette Edwards - 10/04/2026 - BBC Sounds Guests, great music, updates and your stories for your mid-morning with Paulette.

Great to talk to BBC Radio York, Lincolnshire & Sheffield tdy about govt plans to reduce deep-fried, high-sugar foods in school meals & our @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social research on school meal history from WW2 to 1980s marketisation #histed 🍽️ @sheffielduni.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

We’re delighted that the School Dinners exhibition, worked on with the wonderful @foodmuseumuk.bsky.social has been shortlisted for the Museums + Heritage Awards 2026 – Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year 🥛🍎🍽
A fantastic way to mark International School Meals Day 2026!
#ISMD2026 #histed

🎥 We’re interested in different ways of disseminating research. So, we’re trying our hand at short-form video content to summarise the core arguments of amazing projects.

🥘 Up first, here’s our journal’s co-editor @heatherlwellis.bsky.social talking about the @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social project:

About SMS The School Meals Service: Past, Present – and Future? Through a combination of historical and ethnographic approaches, our project seeks to discover the impact of the School Meals Service upon schools...

"School meals should be seen as a piece of core social and educational infrastructure, and not as a marginal welfare provision."

Read some more on the fantastic @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social project here:

www.theschoolmealsproject.co.uk/about/

Very good to see Heather's research on the history of school meals provision being widely shared today. An excellent example of the value and application of historical research in contemporary policymaking.

@heatherlwellis.bsky.social was a superb guest lecturer at a recent RHS visit #Skystorians

Thanks @britishacademy.bsky.social for hosting us! #schoolmeals #histed

@sheffielduni.bsky.social @ichre-ioe.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @gurpinderlalli.bsky.social @drjuliabish.bsky.social

Off to London today to share key findings from our @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social research with policymakers at a @britishacademy.bsky.social lunchtime seminar — what 120 years of UK #schoolmeals can teach today’s policy 🍎🍽

#histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ichre-ioe.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org

Great to be part of this visit yesterday and share findings with colleagues from @royalhistsoc.org, @ioe.bsky.social, @lshtmhistory.bsky.social and everyone who came to @heatherlwellis.bsky.social's lecture.

#histed #schoolmeals @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

Thanks for inviting me to give the lecture! It was a really valuable and interesting day.

Great opportunity to hear more about the fantastic @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social project from @heatherlwellis.bsky.social !! @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social

The UK School Meals Service 1944–Present: A Sensory and Emotional Experience This article explores the sensory and emotional dimensions of the UK School Meals Service (SMS) since 1944, arguing that the lived experiences of pupils, teachers, parents, catering staff, and poli...

📢 Our first full-team article from the School Meals Project is now published 🎉

🍽️ "The UK School Meals Service, 1944–Present: A Sensory and Emotional Experience"

📖 Read it here: lnkd.in/eiWQT4fN

#histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ichre-ioe.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

@ichre-ioe.bsky.social @ische-news.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

🍽 ICYMI Our Policy Briefing on the history & future of school meals is now available to read & share.

Drawing on over a century of evidence and new oral histories, we show how mealtimes are about much more than nutrition.

@sheffielduni.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social

#histed

Hunger, Health and Hope: A History of School Meals in Britain, IN-PERSON Royal Historical Society public lecture at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Institute of Education, UCL

Excited to give the @royalhistsoc.org's public lecture this December: 'Hunger, Health and Hope: A History of School Meals in Britain' @sheffielduni.bsky.social @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social #histed

📅 Tuesday 10 December, 6pm
🎟️ Free, all welcome. Register here
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hunger-hea...

Towards an Emotional and Experiential History of Modern Education: Children’s Essays on the Cinema Around the First World War This article probes the potential of emotional and experiential histories of education. London children’s school essays on their experiences in the First World War, their stories, their dreams and ...

New open access article, based on my keynote at the HES conference in Sheffield : Towards an Emotional and Experiential History of Modern Education: Children’s Essays on the Cinema Around the First World War www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @hexhistory.bsky.social

It has been a lovely week at @ische-news.bsky.social #ISCHE46im Lille. Thought-provoking panels, catching up with old friends and sharing results of the @esrcschoolmeals.bsky.social project! #histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @ichre-ioe.bsky.social

Welcome to our June 2025 newsletter, the final one of the funded project! This month, we look at our end-of-project conference held at Friends House in London on 19 June and our panel at #ISCHE2025. @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ichre-ioe.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social #histed

Our Annual Conference this November is dedicated to Joyce Goodman.

Her co-authored paper with Sue Anderson-Faithful, 'Turning and twisting histories of women’s education: matters of strategy', resonates strongly with our conference theme.

Read: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#histed #edusky

Submit a Blog Post - History of Education Society Fancy writing something for our blog? We would love to hear from you! We are looking for blog posts of 500-1200 words on any topic or theme related to the history of education.

📣 Call for Blog Posts!

We're always looking for researchers in history of education to write a blog for our website. We accept entries from all across the world!

Take part: historyofeducation.org.uk/submit-a-blo...
Our Blog Page: historyofeducation.org.uk/blog/

#histed #history #edusky

🗣️ 'Food isn't just about hunger, it's about equality, it's about dignity, and the right to learn'

After news #FreeSchoolMeals are being extended we explore what impact the policy could have and what it means for those not included.

🎧 Listen in full: shorturl.at/AtkCm
@trustforlondon.bsky.social

This ESRC project on the UK's school meal service is really fascinating work on a key aspect of UK education

To try and capture some of the key themes and ideas discussed at our end-of-project conference last Thursday, we worked with Jules from Illustrated Live who produced this great live illustration for us! #histed @ioe.bsky.social @sheffielduni.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

And thank you to @drjuliabish.bsky.social who did the lion's share of the organisation!

We had a great time at our end-of-project conference today in London! Thanks to everyone for coming and to Sharon Hodgson MP for talking to us about the current policy landscape on school meals. #histed @sheffielduni.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social @wlvuni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

Looking forward to our end-of-project conference tomorrow in London. Conference packs and programmes ready to go!
#histed #schoolmeals @ioe.bsky.social @sheffielduni.bsky.social @histedsocuk.bsky.social

School meals being served to children

🥳 Great news that #FreeSchoolMeals are being extended to all families in England receiving Universal Credit!

Around 500,000 children will benefit from today's announcement - we'd love the government to consider auto-enrolment as part of the roll out.

Read more: bit.ly/4ksjevh

🗣️ 'It's such an exciting step the government have taken - recognising that #FreeSchoolMeals are literally a lifeline for very many families'

Our Executive Director Anna Taylor on the seven-year campaign that received a major boost this week!

🎧 Listen in full: bit.ly/3FIs5d9

🗣️ 'It's about giving every child the best start in life'

Chef and anti-poverty campaigner Tom Kerridge says the government's commitment to extending #FreeSchoolMeals will be a game changer!

Learn more: bit.ly/4ksjevh

School food. Picture: Impact on Urban Health

🏫 The government commitment to expanding #FreeSchoolMeals has opened up new opportunities to improve school food!

Some of these will be critical to ensuring the full benefits reach the estimated half a million children affected.

Read more: bit.ly/4kAvmdJ
#SpendingReview