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The purpose of the takeover, which was covered on BBC Breakfast, was to raise awareness of the need to increase free school meal eligibility to the 800,000 children living in poverty, whose parents are on Universal Credit but aren’t currently eligible under the current criteria.

The visit also championed the ‘amazing work’ of frontline education catering teams, while shining a light on the quality of school food and the fulfilling opportunities that exist within the industry.

Kerridge treated the children to an 'assembly to remember', before putting his cookery skills to the test in a cook-off against School Chef of the Year runner-up Raheem Morgan, in front of Year five and six pupils.

Kerridge then helped the kitchen team to serve up Mexican style chicken, carrot and courgette spaghetti, and tortilla pizzas, using Full Time Meals recipes. The food, which was universally provided free of charge, went down a storm, with one child saying: “I was impressed by how flavoursome and colourful the food was, it tasted amazing.”

Kerridge said: “We’ve had a fantastic day, filled with fun and laughter – that’s what cooking is all about. Food is a powerful tool to bring people and families together, as well as being vitally important to fuelling fun and learning. No punches are pulled when getting feedback from children, so it was great to see the dishes we serve go down a storm.

“Too often school food gets a bad reputation. Raheem and the team at Torridon are unsung heroes that truly care about the children they serve. With the cost-of-living crisis, the school food system is a fantastic way to feed the vulnerable children who are slipping through the cracks. Data shows that 800,000 children living in poverty do not qualify for free school meals, this needs to be addressed with the extension of free school meals provided to every child who is on Universal Credit.”

The Chartwells catering team met with parents during pick up time, giving out bags of ingredients, supplied by M&S Food, and a Full Time Meals recipe card to replicate the carrot and courgette spaghetti dish at home.

Morgan, Chartwells’ chef at Torridon Primary, added: “I love coming to work and seeing the smiles on pupils faces, but today has been that extra bit special. I’m incredibly proud to work as a school caterer, feeding the future generation, and hopefully inspiring them to enjoy cooking at home. I’ve come second three years in a row in the School Chef of the Year competition, so hopefully a few of the pointers I’ve picked up from Tom will help me go one step further this year.”