A Preston team that pooled expertise in cooking, teaching and business development to overhaul a local college lunch service is celebrating this week - after winning a national award.
The transformation of lunchtimes at Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College in Preston was highlighted last week at the Times Educational Supplement’s schools awards as the college clinched the Outstanding School Dinners award for its new restaurant and catering service – which has seen healthy lunch numbers rise from 20% to 85% in the last 2 years.
Headteacher Martin Callagher, head chef Chris Callagher and business development director Cath Wallace led the work to transform the old gym into a brand new restaurant, ‘Il Cenacolo’, which has been a huge hit with students and staff alike, providing restaurant-style food in a relaxing and inviting environment.
The School Food Trust supported the award and Chief Executive Judy Hargadon was among the first to congratulate the school:
“There were a lot of strong nominations but Corpus Christi really stood out.
“The team has transformed lunchtime – proof that treating students as customers and making the dining room a place where they want to spend time are among the most important things a school can do to increase its lunch numbers. A good lunchtime isn’t just good for students’ health – it also improves their performance.”
The measures the school have put in place include transforming the old gym into a brand new restaurant, ‘Il Cenacolo’, which has been a huge hit with students and staff alike, providing restaurant-style food in a relaxing and inviting environment.
The restaurant also provides a buffet catering service to the local community and next year hopes to start providing lunches for local feeder primary schools.
After receiving the award, Head Chef Chris Callagher, a former restaurant chef, praised his catering team:
“We are absolutely delighted and I’m so pleased for all the staff. They’ve been with us from the very beginning of this process and have really got on board with the changes we wanted to make.
“It’s fair to say that for some staff it was ‘just a job’ in the old days, but now they’re in a restaurant kitchen – and one of the busiest around.
He added, “It’s a social experience at lunchtime – the students come in and try things they’ve never tried before. We also invite parents in to try our menus and the response from them is often complete disbelief at how much the menus have changed.”
Martin Callagher, Head Teacher, said:
“The entire catering team has put in a huge amount of work to transform school lunch into a fantastic restaurant experience.”
Martin also commented on the noticeable improvement in pupil behaviour after lunch time:
“After eating in Il Cenacolo they arrive into afternoon lessons much calmer. You can see a noticeable difference after they have eaten a good lunch.”
His comments reflect the School Food Trust’s research on the link between lunchtimes and pupil behaviour – which found that, after a good lunch in the right environment, pupils were more focused in their afternoon lessons.
Chris, Martin and Cath received the Outstanding School Dinner award on behalf of Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College at the TES schools awards ceremony in London on 17 June.
The annual awards celebrate and reward teams making an outstanding contribution to schools throughout the UK.
