Why it matters: The ASSET Arrows – a team of 10 and 11-year-old student leaders from 15 primary schools in the ASSET Trust – won the School Food Leader Award at the 2025 Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards, being recognised nationally for their work encouraging pupils to grow, cook and eat better food.
The details: Swash visited the school on 4 March, spending an hour with the young winners and staff to see how the programme has continued to grow since their success. He even signed the team's self-published ASSET Nourish cookbook.
"It was such an honour to meet the brilliant Ellie, Anir and Jack, just some of the young people from the ASSET Arrows that won last year's School Food Leader Award in Jamie Oliver's Good School Food Awards," Swash said.
"These kids are promoting, growing and eating great food, have written their own recipe book and loads more. I was really inspired by them and now I'm even more excited to help choose this year's winners. As a dad, I know how important tasty, nutritious food is in helping kids be their best at school and in life."
The school said it was "absolutely thrilled" to welcome Swash. "It was wonderful to see him engaging so enthusiastically with the children while exploring our school food," a spokesperson said. "He showed genuine interest in what the students were eating and had a brilliant, down-to-earth way of talking to them about it."
The bigger picture: The ASSET Arrows have spent the past year leading food improvement projects across their 15 schools, including growing vegetables, hosting blind taste tests, creating cookbooks, and designing menus. Their work has inspired the ASSET Trust to bring catering in-house from 1 August 2025, with students helping to design menus that reflect recipes from families across the community.
The team's win was announced live on ITV's This Morning, where hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley spoke to the pupils before revealing the award on air.
Judging panel member George Webster said: "The ASSET Arrows aren't just students, they're brilliant system changers. They've inspired a shift in culture across an entire school trust. They are showing that they are the leaders of the future and they are leaders right now."
The bottom line: From growing vegetables to writing their own cookbook, the ASSET Arrows have shown that pupils can drive real change in school food culture, earning national recognition and a visit from one of TV's best-known faces.
