'I've seen it all on kids' plates in 37 years as a dinner lady'
BBCPink custard. Green custard. Mint custard with chocolate sponge. Pauline Maud hasn't just seen it all, she's made it all.
But as she finally hangs up her apron after 37 years, the long-serving school dinner lady's legacy is healthier food and a huge rise in the number of pupils wanting to eat it.
Pauline has worked at Acomb Primary School in York since the late 1980s and is now ladling baked beans to the children of children she once served.
Headteacher Lee Haynes, who has been at the school himself for 20 years, says: "We'll be in floods of tears when she leaves."
Even though it is her 66th birthday, Pauline has not taken the day off. As the lunchtime rush begins, she finishes up the prep work and takes her place behind the counter. Soon she's talking away with each child as they offer up their plates.
"You go and eat it all up," she tells one. "Yes I will!" comes the reply.
When she first began serving midday meals at the school there was no kitchen and everything was brought in. A move to a new building, modern facilities and a new menu has seen sign-ups from pupils rise from 70 to 215 as the lure of the packed lunch waned.
First things first. "Do you mind me calling you a dinner lady? Shouldn't it be lunchtime supervisor?" I ask as we sit at the dining hall's long and low red tables.
"No, I am a dinner lady," she adamantly replies. "That's what I am known as!"
So what's been the biggest change during her working life?
"There is no processed food now. It's all fresh. Vegetables, potatoes, meat. We source it locally. We ask for the children's input as well. It's good quality wholesome food now."
Post-it notes in the kitchen reveal this week's menu. Chicken korma and roast gammon feature. Pauline says her favourite is the Wednesday roast but several children are nominating fish Friday as their choice.
"The dinners are really nice, really filling. They're always warm and never cold," says 11-year-old Ivy.
Freya, the same age, is more succinct. "They're tasty!" she exclaims.
It is clear they are very fond of Pauline too.
"I'm really gonna miss her, she's really nice," says Kenan, also 11.
"If you're having a bad day, you see her smile and it makes you way better," adds 10-year-old Edie.
Headteacher Lee confesses that his favourite meal is Pauline's meatballs.
"They're brilliant. We use a local butcher and the tomato sauce is fantastic.
"Pauline's been instrumental in the quality of the dinners we provide for children. We've seen the uptake of dinners rise three-fold.
"We're doing a big farewell assembly for her, the children are going to write some kind words and we're probably all going to be in floods of tears."
Asked why she is retiring, Pauline says it is the right time.
"I'm tired now. I just need a bit of time to myself.
"The children are lovely. The school is amazing. Nearly 38 years of my life have been well spent here and I wouldn't change it for a thing."
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