News

School pupils from Thomas Arnold got to meet a fire-breathing dragon after winning a competition for primary schools to see who could encourage the highest uptake of school meals on Dragon and Chinese Cooking day.

In October, Barking and Dagenham council’s catering service ran a unique competition across almost every primary school in the borough to see which school could encourage the highest uptake to win a Cantonese cooking experience led by chef Darren Tinkler.

The competition winners were also visited by Epico the Dragon and his handler Sir Aurelius Jones who performed special shows at the school.

Epico is an animatronic dragon that walks, roars and has steam coming out of his nostrils.

Councillor Lynda Rice, a teacher and Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Not only did the children at Thomas Arnold have a magical experience that stretched their imaginations with the larger-than-life dragon, but thousands more children in the borough were able to enjoy a delicious healthy school meal because of the competition, adding to our efforts to ensure children and young people are well educated and healthy.”

The competition increased the number of school meals eaten in primary schools across the borough by an average of 20%.