Background Information
Hetton School in Sunderland is a specialist Technology College with students ranging from 11 to 16 years. There are around 1000 students on roll. The school building is relatively large with a lot of outside space, however, there is very little inside recreational space.
Why did the school want to make improvements to the school food provision?
The dining area had recently been extended to incorporate three distinct food service areas (Main Dining Hall, MULA and Crush). However, the school wanted to extend the stay onsite policy to incorporate year 9, previously this had only applied to years 7 and 8. It was also anticipated that extending the stay on site policy would boost school meal take up figures from 40%. Therefore, the dining and kitchen areas needed to be addressed to cater for the increased demand the policy extension would bring.
Dining Facilities:
In the main dining hall the serving area was located to the front of the kitchen. A small chilled cabinet containing sandwiches and drinks sat opposite. Prior to any changes there were two tills on the hot food servery and a third till next to the sandwich cabinet. Students used a cashless system and they topped up their cards at various points across the school. There were 156 fixed chairs in the main dining hall.
The school also utilised a Multi Use Learning Area (MULA) adjacent to the kitchen and main dining hall, as a second dining area. At lunchtime it is served by a single service area and a single till operates the same cashless system as the main dining area.
The ‘Crush’ is an area adjacent to the main school hall (in a separate area of school from the dining area) selling sandwiches and Panini’s. The ‘Crush’ has a drinks and sandwich cabinet and a single till that is used for cash transactions.
Kitchen area:
The main challenge within the kitchen was a lack of preparation space. Panini’s were being cooked in the Panini toasters, a process which not only takes considerable amount of time but also needs a lot of storage space. Trays were being placed over the top of one of the hobs, which limited the amount of cooking capacity.
There were two traditional gas ovens, each with the capacity for four trays. Limited oven space resulted in food being cooked well in advance of service and kept warm in the heated lockers. The kitchen also did not have a dishwasher and two members of staff were dedicated to washing up
Servery Area:
There were three key issues identified with the servery:
- The location of the tills at the servery, were identified as the key bottleneck within the service.
- The location of the ‘slush’ drinks dispensers at the end of the servery exacerbated the bottleneck.
- Queue management was an issue and children were observed pushing into the line.
Who was involved in implementing changes?
- Head teacher
- Bursar
- Two Sunderland City Catering Representatives
- Consultant
What improvements were made to the school food service?
Dining area:
The hall was suitable for the present demand but it was noted that the capacity in the dining space would need to increase, with the extension of the stay on site policy. Therefore, new chairs and tables (some round and some rectangular) were ordered for the new dining area to replace the existing fixed seating.
The school did not throw away the old fixed tables and chairs. They increased their seating capacity further by placing them in two outdoor areas. One of these areas is behind the MULA and the other is next to the ‘Crush’. The school hoped that children would use these areas in the summer term, when take up drops due to students not wanting to be inside during good weather.
A water dispenser was installed in the main dining hall and in the MULA. This enabled the school to address the one outstanding issue that has been raised in their achievement of being a ‘healthy school’. The pupils have access to these water dispensers in the morning, at break time and again at lunch time.
Kitchen area:
Improvements to the kitchen area were made during the half term period to minimise disruption to the service. The following equipment was installed to improve efficiency and capacity in the kitchen area.
| Equipment: | Reason |
|---|---|
| Food Slicer | To prepare meat for Paninis |
| Upright Freezer | To increase freezer capacity without using more floor space |
| Upright Fridge | To create extra fridge space without using more floor space |
| Extraction | To support new Combi oven |
| 10 Grid Combi Oven x2 | To increase oven capacity and reduce cooking times |
| 6 burner oven range x2 | To replace broken ovens |
| Undercounter fridge x2 | To help with drinks replenishment on servery |
| Dishwasher | To speed up dishwashing time |
Servery Area:
The following changes were made to the servery area:
- The servery area was replaced with a new lower counter which enabled the school food to be presented in a more attractive manner.
- An island was installed at the end of the servery onto which two tills were placed – one from the sandwich section and one from the servery. A third till was located at the end of the servery counter.
- Additional barriers were installed to manage the queues and temporary posters were displayed at the entrance to advertise the new system.
- Flat screen TV’s were installed above the servery to promote meal prices and information about the meal service.
Following the changes to the dining room, kitchen and servery areas the school conducted a week long free school meal trial to test the school meal service at full capacity.
What are the benefits to the school?
Dining Areas:
The pupils have reported to head teacher that they are really pleased with the new dining furniture. The seats allow greater flexibility and pupils have commented that the furniture has increased the flow through the dining hall. The head teacher has observed that the new furniture and dining room layout seems to have reduced noise levels.
“The changes to the dining area have been positive changes, the students like it, the atmosphere is calmer and quieter”. Head teacher
The free school meal trial highlighted that there were insufficient seats to cater for such a rise in demand and that there might be a problem when the stay on site policy was extended to include years 10 and 11 in further years. The school are now looking into how they can manage this.
Kitchen area:
The installation of the new kitchen equipment has improved the efficiency and capacity of the kitchen area. More food can be cooked quickly with the installation of the Combi-oven, which will prove essential when the stay on site policy is extended to Year 9. Panini’s can be cooked in a Combi-oven more quickly and with greater throughput than in Panini toasters. Vegetables can be steamed in the combi-oven rather then boiled on the hob, which improves the nutritional content of the food.
The success of the week long free school meal trial assured the Head teacher that the kitchen had the capacity to cater for the pupils in Years 7 – 9, following the policy extension.
“The refurbishment to the kitchen has given me the confidence that we can implement a stay on site policy for years 7, 8 and 9”.Head teacher
Servery Area:
On average it took one pupil between 13 – 17 seconds to pass through the old servery area. Following the installation of the new servery and till points it now takes one pupil, on average 10 – 12 seconds to pass through the servery area. The new servery and till point system have increased flow through and improved queue management and behaviour in the dining room.
Future Priorities:
The school needs to be sure that there is enough space in the dining hall and MULA to accommodate a consistent increase in take up. They have agreed to observe the amount of seating available during the lunchtime period. If demand increases then the school will order additional chairs and tables.
It has been proposed that a ‘Slush’ drinks dispensers be placed on a trolley and wheeled around to the end of the sandwich counter. This will allow all those students who want to purchase a slush drink as part of a meal deal, to do so at the same service area. This initiative may help to further relieve any bottlenecks at the servery and till areas.
Contact Details:
If you would like further information please feel free to contact the School Food Trust on 0800 089 5001 or alternatively please email enquiries to info@childrensfoodtrust.org.uk
