EDUCATION SOLUTIONS
Catering services for Education services
Pupil and student engagement
We continually strive to increase meal uptake by engaging with our customers at our schools with programmes of food events and extra-curricular activities such as nutritional assemblies, fun to cook sessions and creating herb gardens.
We also link food menus to curriculum activities. For example, foods from different parts of the world can be showcased to bring geography lessons to life.
Parent engagement
At the start of each menu cycle, we recommend a taster session with parents to discuss the new menu and provide samples. Participating in student council sessions is also very important to understanding pupils’ need. We hold stand-alone Catering Forums every half term where we meet with customers, to sample new menus.
Cultural Diets
Our Food Diversity training programme provides our colleagues with easily accessible information on cultural and religious influences on diet so that we can provide choices to meet the needs of a range of ethnic backgrounds.
Payment Systems
At many of our secondary schools, we operate cashless systems that give students an account into which parents can put funds via a secure internet payment option or at student payment cashpoints. In many of our school contracts, our investment has enabled us to upgrade to cashless payment systems – something that has significantly reduced queue times for students.