Introduction
Blatchington Mill School, in Hove, has around 1,500 pupils on roll with an additional 200 pupils in the sixth form. The school specialises in three main areas: ICT, the Performing Arts and Applied Learning. Chartwells Catering Company provides the school food.
Summary
In 2001, Blatchington Mill School decided to re-locate their kitchen and dining space to improve efficiency. A larger, single dining area was created, with improved queuing systems and an additional satellite food service. In 2008, a further outlet was added and, in 2009, the size of the dining area was significantly increased and the seating arrangements modernised.
Why were improvements made to the kitchen and dining space?
The school was formed, in 1979, by combining the premises of a secondary modern school with the adjacent boys’ grammar school; for many years catering was provided in two dining areas at opposite ends of the newly formed school. In 2001, the kitchen and dining space was re-located to a larger area within the school to increase the seating capacity. The original dining area was converted into a theatre. Using only one, larger, space and timetabling a split lunch led to an increase in the quality of the food offered, efficiencies in delivery, reduction of waste and an economy of scale which helped to maximise the range of choices on offer.
As a school which had aspirations for specialist status as a Performing Arts College, this also freed the old kitchen / dining space for the development of a theatre.
What improvements were made?
School Food:
All the food is prepared fresh, on-site, by Chartwells. The school offers a breakfast, lunchtime and break time service. Menus are rotated every three weeks and pasta has proved to be a very popular choice. All the meals are prepared from recipe cards, planned by development chefs, who are supported by nutritionists. Theme days are also held to promote school food, these include: Christmas Lunch, Taste the World and Henry Higgins Day. Furthermore, promotions, prize draws and give-aways help to maintain pupil interest in the food and healthy eating.
Chartwells tailor their catering contracts to suit the school and the pupils’ needs. A main hot meal and a desert costs just £1.70 and the value-for-money aspect is advertised to pupils. Since the nutritional guidelines came into place the school has noted that there has been no decline in meal take-up figures. Chartwells have been the contractor on site for several years and were successful again when the contract was re-tendered in 2008.
Reducing Queuing Times:
Blatchington Mill implemented cashless catering with a smart card system. The cashless system was first introduced in 2002, and is currently being replaced with a new system which will allow parents to “top up” students’ accounts online, as well as in more traditional ways, such as paying money to the Student Services office.
A structured queuing system was also put in place in the main serving area to ensure that pupils get their food quickly. Pupils queue to the right, for quick snacks and cold foods and are able to access two till points. Alternatively, pupils queue to the left, for hot food and have access to four till points. Both the queues are separated with barriers (please refer to the photograph below).
The staff hand the cutlery to the pupils opting for a hot meal, which helps to speed up the queue time. Lunchtime sittings are split and the younger year groups have their lunch first. In between both the sittings, catering staff have 30 minutes for clearing away and preparation. Menus are also displayed in queuing areas to enable pupils to make a selection before they reach the serveries.
In 2008, the “Snack Shack” was built for year 11 pupils. The Snack Shack has two till points and a covered area for queuing. Teaching staff volunteer to supervise the queuing system and get paid for their time. Brightly coloured bins are situated around the area to reduce littering. Multiple food outlets have relieved pressure on queues during the lunchtime service.
Dining area:
The dining space is a large, well lit, area with plants and plasma television screens. Menus and information about the school food are displayed on the screens. In 2009, the school built an extension onto the current dining area to increase seating capacity by a further 40%. Fold away tables and chairs have proved practical and are easy to clear away. The pupils favour the new dining extension because of the large windows which overlook the school grounds. Around 50-60 members of the teaching staff also eat in the canteen alongside the pupils.
A sixth form café is located on a separate site away from the kitchen. The older pupils now have their own space for dining and socialising over the lunchtime period.
Food is taken to both the Snack Shack and sixth form cafe in heated, covered trolleys, allowing almost the full range on offer in the main servery, to be offered at the other service outlets.
Blatchington Mill also provides an additional outside seating area. The area is covered and boasts additional lighting and round picnic tables. This area, “The Quad”, was constructed, in 2004, by the Local Authority and the furniture was donated by the Parents Association.
Kitchen, Cafe and Servery:
Around 17 catering staff work within the kitchen area and their roles are rotated on a termly basis. Two years ago, the school decided to refurbish the kitchen to increase capacity and improve efficiency. Smaller freezers were replaced by a storeroom and walk-in freezer with a chiller room. A dishwasher and ten combination-ovens were also installed. Furthermore, additional Bain Maries and open serveries were added to enable the pupils to view the food on offer.
The café area has its own logo and branding. Pictures of fruit and vegetables are featured on the walls. All the staffs wear uniforms which have the café logo on them. Information about school food and nutrition is displayed outside the cafeteria area.
Whole School Approach:
Blatchington Mill has developed a Healthy Eating policy which is available to all staff and students on the School Portal (Intranet). A key point of this policy is the importance which the school attaches to embedding healthy eating in the curriculum.
Jeremy Bennett the Operations Performance Manager for Chartwells attends assemblies to promote a healthy balanced diet and the benefits that this can have on health and wellbeing.
Involving Pupils:
The school has a good “student voice” system which cascades down, from tutor groups and through year group representatives, to a school council with two representatives from each year. Mark Brunet the Business Manager at Blatchington Mill often attends school council meetings, where he talks to the pupils about issues around school food. Students often report that food prices and food choices are an issue. They also offer constructive suggestions about the timing and the location of the food service, some of which are being incorporated into future planning.
Students are understanding of the implications of compliance with nutritional guidelines and accept that this limits some items of food which they would, otherwise, like to see available. A comparison of our prices with other local schools is a sufficient response to issues about price.
Resources:
Chartwells provides a plethora of publicity material, which the school is pleased to supplement. Materials from the School Food Trust are useful additions.
How was the project funded?
Snack Shack and dining room queuing area:
The cost of the improvement work was built into the lifetime of the catering contract (over 5 years).
Quad:
The Local Authority gave the school a grant to carry out this work
Dining area and extension:
Each year the school receives a Devolved Formula Capital Grant which is allocated specifically for refurbishment work and improvements. This grant was utilised to fund the dining room refurbishment and extension.
What were the outcomes and benefits?
- Ms King, the Deputy Head Teacher, has reported an increase in concentration and improved behaviour during afternoon lessons and noted that school exclusions are minimal.
- The school firmly believes that a properly fed learner is a productive learner; it may be, therefore, no coincidence, that results saw a steep change in improvement two years ago.
- The school has seen improved academic results. Around 65% of pupils are achieving 5 GCSEs (A-C grades); this includes the results for English and Maths.
- Feedback from students on the facilities is obtained through a variety of sources, including surveys and student voice; the reaction to the improved facilities for eating, this year, has been entirely positive.
What are their future priorities?
The school plans to re-decorate the dining area and to get the pupils involved in this process. A section of the dining space now houses six computers for pupils to access during the lunchtime period, including one station which is accessible to wheelchairs.
Looking ahead, The Quad is likely to have a “Sub” type servery offering baguettes and sandwiches from next year, to increase food choice further
Tips for success:
- Do not try and do things on the cheap.
- In the medium term, it is worth investing in quality within the environment.
- Mark Brunet commented “If you provide world-class facilities, you develop world-class citizens. Our new eating area has seen zero cases of vandalism – and appears to be getting tidier”.
