Background Information:
St. Aidan’s Church of England High School is located on the edge of Harrogate and has around 2000 pupils on roll (including sixth form). The school occupies a range of buildings built at different times, but the majority were constructed in the 1960’s. A series of refurbishments have taken place to upgrade the catering provision. In 2001 St Aidan’s School brought their catering provision in-house by directly employing their own catering staff. This was partly due to the poor food being prepared and served by contracted caterers. At the time, less than 15% of students were eating school meals.
Why did the school want to improve lunchtimes?
In 1999 the school food environment was illegal. The kitchen lacked aluminium work surfaces and most of the equipment was outdated. Furthermore, the kitchen floor was quarry tiled and filled with dirt and the wall tiles were cracked. There was an open drain within the kitchen which was blocked with fat and created further health and safety issues.
In 2001 the St. Aidan’s were dissatisfied with the current catering provision and only 250 school meals were being sold per day. Pupils opted to bring packed lunches and went off site to purchase food. Therefore, the school decided to bring their catering provision in house. The success of the new school food provision resulted in an increase in take up. However, the old dining facilities did not cater for the increase in demand with a seating capacity of up to 240 pupils.
How was the project funded?
The school secured a loan of £250,000 from the Local Authority, to be repaid over a five year period. They later raised a further £250,000 from a variety of other funding sources.
Who was involved in improving the school food provision?
- Deputy Head teacher
- Catering Manager
- Governors
- School Bursar
- Parents
- Pupils
What improvements were made?
Kitchen and Dining Areas:
A portion of the funding was used to refurbish the kitchen environment. The school dining provision was arranged around a central kitchen, which has been upgraded and equipped, to meet the Head Chef’s requirements. Some key items of equipment have been installed including: state of the art coffee making facilities, dry and cold storerooms, bain-maries, 2 self cleaning combi-ovens, new work preparation areas, bread making facilities, brad pans, charcoal grills, smoothie makers, orange juicers and lots of other worktop machines. Aluminium work surfaces and new flooring were incorporated into the new kitchen design. The original open drains were excavated and a new secure drainage system installed. There are now four dining areas, with serveries attached to the main kitchen.
A multi-purpose dining hall and outdoor courtyard area has been reserved for Year 7 pupils. There are 240 seats in total. The outdoor courtyard also boats canopied areas, to enable pupils to eat outside under shelter. The Year 7 dining provision is managed effectively by one lunchtime assistant. An additional restaurant was built in 2001 and seats 250 pupils, from Years 8-11. Photographs of the school food have been printed onto canvas and displayed on the dining room walls. In both the dining areas round tables and unfixed chairs were installed to promote a relaxed and social environment. Multiple service and till points have been installed to reduce the time spent queuing. A deli bar was opened in 2007, serving sandwiches and salad boxes. It was created from a converted classroom and conservatory extension and seats up to 150 pupils. This deli bar has been dedicated to pupils’ participating in lunchtime activities that may require a quicker service.
In 2009 a complete refurbishment of the sixth form café providing a total of 400 seats was undertaken and a second servery was created. A commercial hot drinks facility now produces fine coffees and other hot drinks. The sixth form pupils have a designated dining area with a combination of rectangular and circular tables, with bistro style seating. Armchairs, comfy seating and coffee tables have also been added to create a coffee bar feel. The sixth form café is open from 8.00am to 5.00pm and provides a wide choice of meals and snacks. Again multiple service areas have been installed to reduce queues. When pupils move up from Year 11 into sixth form they have an end of term ball. Photos of pupils who attended the event are displayed on the sixth form cafeteria wall, this helps to create a sense of ownership for the space. St Aidan’s School created a variety of dining spaces around a central kitchen to ensure that the needs of the whole school community can be met.
Cashless Payment System:
St Aidan’s installed a cashless card system at a cost of £20,000. Colour-coded cards were allocated for each year group, with a cost of £2.50 for breakages and losses.
What were the outcomes and benefits?
Kitchen and Dining Space:
The new kitchen environment and equipment has enabled Trevor Whitehead, Head Chef to create new and enticing school food. Queuing time at the serveries has been reduced by splitting the catering provision across four dining areas. Each dining space has different qualities, creating a variety and sense of progression as pupils move up through the school.
“We have proven that if you give children a nice environment and fantastic food, then they can only react in one way and that’s positively. The children are all better behaved at lunchtimes and calmer in the afternoon.” Steve Hatcher, Deputy Head
Nine years on, over 90% of the pupils are using the catering service. In particular pupils in Year 7 enjoy having their own dedicated dining hall and outdoor area. Although the price for meals has increased by 5% per year, the number of meals being served has increased. The contracted caterers used to serve about 250 meals a day. Today St Aidan’s serves up to 1,900 meals every day!
Trevor Whitehead comments: “There was a 100% increase in school meal take up straight away, but it has taken nine years to get to where we are today.”
Cashless System:
This system has improved the service time and reduced queuing. The card system is also useful for monitoring what children are eating. Free school meal pupils can not be identified by their peers and this has helped to tackle issues around stigma. There is a 90% take up by those qualifying for FSM.
Other benefits include:
- Catering staff now feel fully integrated and customer service training has enhanced the quality of the service delivered.
- The school kitchen hosts many special events including: Christmas lunches, a Victorian banquet, sports personality and young musician of the year.
- The school has developed good relationships with local producers and this has created spin-off benefits, e.g. farm visits and food technology master class lessons.
Steve Hatcher, Deputy Head at St. Aidan’s says: ‘All this is wonderful and largely planned. What we had not catered for was the change in the school. The pupils are calmer and the school lunch hour is a much more pleasant experience… Now the children sit and eat and converse. And the benefits in terms of improved social and academic skills are there for everyone to see.’
Sustainability
Daily takings are now about £4,000, making it financially independent of the education service. The average spend per child is £2.00 – £3.00 which includes breakfast and lunch.
The school has received positive feedback from the community and created a unique website to help other schools to improve their meal service and develop menus which are compliant with the nutrient based standards (www.catering4schools.com).
In July 2009, St. Aidan’s was presented with the “Best School Dinners Award” by the TES. Steve Hatcher and Trevor Whitehead were awarded the coveted “Education Award” by the Yorkshire Life Magazine, in October 2009.
Learning and Tips for Success:
St. Aidan’s are working in partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University to investigate “Healthy Lifestyles”. Around 240 Year 7 pupils (and their parents) will be encouraged to investigate the impact of activity, food and diet on their health and self esteem. The research paper is also aiming to look at the impact on behaviour and achievement. Regular updates of the research will be reported on the website (www.catering4schools.com).
Other useful advice includes:
- Create a partnership between catering and education as this is fundamental to success.
- Appoint the right people and provide ongoing training for staff.
- Save money by negotiating with local suppliers for best value deals
Contact information
Steve Hatcher
Deputy Head – St. Aidan’s School
Email: s.hatcher@staidans.co.uk
Tel: (01423) 885814
