School cooks provide nutritious, balanced and value-for-money meals to children every day in term time.
What’s involved
The role of school cook / catering manager could include:
• Ordering food
• Planning menus according to a fixed budget and following guidelines on nutrition and healthy eating
• Monitoring and managing supplies within a budget
• Supervising the work of catering staff, including allocation of duties and work rotas
• Developing relationships with food suppliers
• Liaising with site manager
• Complying with food safety legislation
Skills and experience you will need
• Excellent communication skills
• Good standards of hygiene
• Organised and methodical
• Experience of catering
• Supervising a team of catering staff
Entry requirements
It is up to schools and local authorities to decide what qualifications and experience applicants need to have, so it is important to check locally. Some may employ people on the basis of their experience and potential alone.
Schools usually expect cooks to have a qualification in Food Preparation and Cooking. It can often help if you have further qualifications in Kitchen Supervision or Kitchen Management.