The Hamble School wins LACA award for excellence
Secondary catering team of the year 2022
Our catering team’s efforts have led to substantial progress at The Hamble School. The strong trading performance has allowed Education Catering to deliver a robust set of financial results despite restrictions that have impacted the sector. The team strive to achieve and exceed their income targets and motivate each other in a positive competitive spirit providing exceptional service.
Joint investment between The Hamble School, the onsite team and Education Catering, has resulted in:
- Improved customer flows from two new pods as additional point of sale attractions that reduce queues and support better student behaviour in line with behavioural policy. One is situated by the sports hall due to close proximity to student football pitches; the other is by the kitchen so students can congregate under cover in inclement weather.
- Upgraded service points to two additional service points that sell deli style food.
- The main counter where we serve hot food inside the hall has also been upgraded to provide the ability to offer food to go and plant-based items. This has made the operation more efficient, and students have more social time because they are served more quickly at lunchtime.
Pride in our partnership
In headteachers’ 2020 and 2021 surveys, leadership teams rated our District Manager as excellent and proactive, reporting our team was part of their school community. When asked about stakeholder engagement, they stated that the Hamble School take pride in our partnership and involve us in all their planning. The Education Catering hierarchy are frequent visitors to the school site.
They also stated that staff attitude affected demand for food and drink and that the catering team are a perfect example of success in this area. Client confidence is strong, commending them for dedication and commitment. Their positive client communication means they are considered as integral to the wider school/college team and why their outstanding contribution has just resulted in a renewed six-year plus contract.
Debbie and her team are not afraid to innovate and have offered a wide range of healthy options to tempt the students to be more daring in their daily choices and to try new things. She even hides vegetables in brownies which are so tasty the students don’t even notice!
We have enjoyed a massive uptake in our catering income, with the majority of students now opting to take up our food offer as opposed to bringing in packed lunches or shop bought packaged food. Debbie has encouraged us to become much more sustainable and every effort is made to use bio-gradable to no packaging at all. There is little wastage and on the few occasions that there is something left over, this has been offered to our FSM and financially disadvantaged students to take home.