SCHOOLS used to have to worry about little more than their staff, children and National Curriculum - now headteachers also have to be accountants, community leaders, diplomats, and, most intriguingly, nutritionists.

A SURVEY of schools and LEAs across the country recently confirmed what schools in Worcester already knew - healthy eating among pupils leads to improved performance.

Nunnery Wood High School has recently won a national award for providing healthy food, while Christopher Whitehead High has seen its move towards a healthier school lift standards across the board.

"Healthy eating is one of the main ways we have tried to enhance the school community," said headteacher Neil Morris.

"In a recent competition, based on getting students to eat properly, we had almost 300 kids take part and that's a quarter of the school moving in the right direction."

For the competition, every time a pupil ditched fast food for a nutritional snack, such as fruit, they gained a raffle ticket.

The winning pupil, Jamie Smith, in Year 10, swapped 27 unhealthy meals for "proper" food over a month- accumulating 27 tickets - and claimed a BMX bike for his efforts.

"It is noticeable that behaviour among pupils generally improves when they eat better," confirmed Mr Morris, from the Bromwich Road school.

"We discourage pupils from going out of school and eating chips and fast food during breaktimes. We offer healthy food here and competitions like this are clearly an incentive."

Nutrition has been high on the agenda since the beginning of term, when Mr Morris introduced the first stage of a healthier school plan.

"First up we introduced water to lessons. We gave every student a bottle, which they could fill up and take into class. I have to say we anticipated some problems with it at first," he said.

"But the students have responded very well. It hasn't detracted at all from their attention - if anything it has helped concentration and behaviour.

"Admittedly, this is something our feeder schools have been doing for some time but it was new here and it was a positive step."

The next change was the move towards healthier eating.

Breakfasts were made available to students in the morning, a scheme especially targeted at pupils who qualify for free school meals.

"As a school you have to recognise that some students who qualify for free meals struggle to have proper breakfasts before school, or evening meals afterwards," he said.

"What we couldn't have were students eating well at lunchtime and not eating a nutritional meal until the following lunchtime."

The "Looking for innovations in healthy school meals" report, which surveyed 13 LEAs and two schools, confirmed the value of eating properly.

It found that healthy, sit-down meals led to better:-

n behaved and more alert pupils, who are less likely to be hyperactive

n concentration and attention spans

n social skills and conversational skills

n attendance rates

Mr Morris was not about to disagree with the findings, which confirmed much of what he had already seen.

"Our attendance is up and our removal from classrooms and school exclusions are down on this time last year," said Mr Morris.

"These are straight statistics and you can read whatever you like into them, but overall, I am convinced there is a change of culture in the school.

"It is purely subjective, but I feel behaviour and attitudes have improved. The general feel about the place is much, much better."

First choice success rate up

MORE children in Worcestershire are being accepted into their parents' first choice of school than any time since the county was "recreated" in 1998.

Almost 96 per cent of first choice placements were met across all LEA-controlled schools in Worcestershire this academic year, according to the latest statistics.

The 95.9 per cent figure compares to 95.2 per cent last year, 94.7 in 2002/03 and 93.9 per cent three years ago.

"This year's admission arrangements have been the most successful we have ever enjoyed," said Julien Kramer, Worcestershire's director of education.

"More pupils than ever have got their first choice and we have had the lowest number of appeals."

Pack it up and take it home

STUDENTS across Worcestershire are being warned to lock their windows and take all their valuables home to avoid attracting thieves over the Christmas holiday.

A survey by online insurer www.cover4students.com revealed that the average contents left behind in a student house in the UK totals £3,319.

"Student accommodation is a magnet for thieves over the festive period. More than 1,000 students will be the victim of crime this Christmas," said Martin Nugent, from the site.

"Our message is: lock it up, pack it up and cover it up."