School dinners have come a long way since the days of overcooked cabbage and soggy semolina, and thanks to Jamie Oliver's healthy eating revolution you will be hard pressed to find a turkey twizzler on today's menus either.

At Dr Radcliffe's Primary School, in Steeple Aston, school lunches have taken on a whole new twist since the introduction of Fresh Start Catering, an award-winning company cooking up some culinary delights that even the fussiest eaters cannot refuse.

The company has been going for just over a year, and was launched by Sue White, from Lower Heyford, who had previously worked as the school's cook.

Despite being in its infancy, the company has just been rewarded for its hard work by winning the primary school category of the Best School Meals Competition.

Ms White said: "We were thrilled to win the award - especially as we have only been going for a year. It is amazing what we have achieved in that short time.

"Healthy eating is a real passion of mine. My son Joe is nearly eight, and an insulin-dependant diabetic with type one diabetes, so good nutrition and properly balanced meals are vital for his wellbeing and health.

"I got into the routine of going to school every lunchtime to give Joe his insulin, and decided to volunteer and help at the school. I worked in the kitchen and started to have some ideas for making mealtimes a little different."

Ms White's background in hotels and catering has stood her in good stead, along with her love of good food and cooking. She approached the school governors about introducing a new way of providing school meals, and took on a team of mothers to help her.

She added: "The governors agreed last year that I could go ahead with my idea, so I set up a small, independent limited company.

"We use the school's kitchen and fixtures and fittings, and we buy the food, plan the menus, cook, serve and clear up afterwards. It's a great business model for a start-up company because I only needed to invest in food and staff - the equipment and facilities were already there.

"Fresh, home-cooked food for children is what it's all about and it's a physical and demanding job - but very worthwhile.

"All our food is cooked from scratch and we make our own bread and cakes with organic flour. We also use organic milk, local vegetables, meat and fruit and our free-range eggs come from Hampton Gay, and are also organic.

"We aim to use organic produce, local produce and natural and fairtrade products where possible, and parents also bring in their own produce so we can use that as well.

"The children have a garden at the school and grow herbs, vegetables and tomatoes for us to use in their school dinners."

Ms White and her team cater for between 120 and 150 children a day and also run cooking sessions with pupils at the school, who then suggest new recipes for the menu.

"We make sure there is also plenty of everything to go round, and that we have a speedy service for the children to keep the queues as short as possible, because they really don't like having to wait!

"One of the most rewarding things about Fresh Start is that we have been able to work with parents of children who have particular dietary needs or difficulties.

"We pride ourselves on being able to accommodate children who have allergies, or who may be problem eaters, and we have already had some great success and have expanded the range of food that children are eating."

On the menu at the moment are dishes such as salmon rosti fishcakes, garlic and herb chicken with fusilli pasta, vegetable filo parcels, roast turkey, honey-baked apricots and vanilla yoghurt, rhubarb crumble cake and home-made cookies.

Ms White added: "We have to stick to strict guidelines laid down by the School Food Trust, and from September every meal we serve will have to be analysed to ensure that we are providing well-balanced, nutritious and healthy food for the children at the school.

"When we entered the Trading Standards competition ,the judges took away samples of the food to be nutritionally tested.

"I like to think that we run a cafe in a school, really, and that the food we produce would be the standard, quality and variety of food that you would expect to eat in a good cafe or restaurant. I want people to have those expectations when they eat our food.

"If you can start working with children at an early age and encourage them to enjoy and appreciate good food, you have a winning situation."