LEARN – LOVE – LAUGH: at Sandford St Martin's CE VA Primary.
The governors and leadership team of our school wish to appoint a committed, enthusiastic and experienced cook supervisor to lead our kitchen team and ensure all our children have a high-quality and nutritious hot meal.
This is a permanent, part time position for 27.5 hours a week, term time + INSET days only (39 weeks). Working hours are 8:30am – 2:00pm Monday - Friday
Our ideal candidate would be an experienced and motivated school cook. The role will mean you are responsible for the day-to-day kitchen operations, supervising staff, and maintaining excellent food safety and service standards. As the cook supervisor you would be expected to liaise closely with both the school management team, the lunchtime supervisors and with out catering contractors on the suitable provision of meals for the school. The ideal candidate will have a willingness to be reflective, be committed to continual improvement through professional development and dialogue and enjoy working supportively and flexibly as part of a team. The role is to start as soon as possible.
Key Responsibilities
Prepare, cook and present meals to a high standard
Supervise and support kitchen staff, allocating duties and managing rotas
Ensure compliance with food safety, hygiene and allergen regulations
Monitor food quality, portion control and presentation
Weekly ordering, management of stock levels, and minimising waste
Maintain a clean, safe and well-organised kitchen environment
Work closely with management and external providers to meet service and budget requirements
About You
Previous experience as a Cook, Chef or Kitchen Supervisor
Strong knowledge of food hygiene, health & safety and allergen awareness
Level 2 Food Safety Certificate (Level 3 desirable)
Confident leading and motivating a small team
Organised, very reliable and able to work under pressure
Passionate about food quality and customer satisfaction
What We Offer
In return we offer the right candidate a supportive and collaborative team environment. Full on-boarding will be given to ensure confidence in running this busy kitchen. We offer a competitive salary and membership of the local government pension scheme, combined with stable working hours within the school day.
Applications for this position close at midnight on Sunday 1st March 2026
Interviews will be held in the week commencing 9 March 2026 with the position to start as soon as possible
Further Information
Sandford St Martin's CE Primary School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.
The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.
The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted at the start of employment and again if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.
This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ's guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Sandford St Martin's CE Primary School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.
About Us
Visits to the school are warmly welcomed – please contact the school office on [email protected] or to arrange this.