Aurora Meldreth Manor School
Cambridgeshire
£ £12.59 per hour
Expiring soon
Salary:
depending on experience
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Apply by:
10 October 2025
Job overview
Catering Assistant – Aurora Meldreth Manor and Orchard Manor Shared Services
Location: Meldreth, near Royston. Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire border
Contract Type: Permanent, Full time
Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday 08:30am to 17:00pm, 52 weeks a year
Hourly rate: £ £12.59 per hour (depending on skills/experience/qualifications)
Annual Salary: £25, £26,187.20
Closing date: Friday 10th October 2025 at 1pm
Aurora Meldreth Manor/Orchard Manor
Situated in the village of Meldreth, just ten miles south of Cambridge, our services provide education, care, and therapeutic support for children and young people with severe, profound, and multiple learning difficulties. Set within 14 acres, our site includes:
* Music and Art Rooms
* Rebound Therapy
* Hydrotherapy
* Forestry School
* Adapted Kitchens
* Enterprise Schemes
* Sensory Rooms
* Hard and soft outdoor spaces
The role:
As a Catering Assistant, you will play a key role in creating a positive mealtime experience for our young people. You'll assist with meal preparation and service, ensuring correct portioning, temperature control, and presentation standards. You'll maintain a clean and safe kitchen environment and support inclusive, person-centred dining experiences.
This is a hands-on role requiring a proactive and practical approach. The ideal candidate will have strong organisational skills, a keen eye for detail, and a genuine passion for delivering excellent service. You should be comfortable working independently when needed and able to manage tasks efficiently in a busy environment.
Due to the physical nature of the role—including manual handling and long periods of standing—a good level of physical fitness is essential.
Key duties:
* Assist the Senior Cook with meal preparation, ensuring food safety and portion control.
* Maintain a hygienic kitchen environment, including cleaning equipment, surfaces, and floors.
* Receive, check, and store food deliveries in line with food safety standards.
* Ensure allergen information and labelling complies with Natasha's Law.
* Serve food respectfully, considering individual dietary needs and preferences.
* Engage positively with young people during mealtimes, promoting independence and choice.
* Carry out and record equipment and maintenance checks.
* Respond appropriately to food-related emergencies, including allergic reactions.
* Work independently when required, demonstrating initiative and attention to detail.
* Contribute to continuous improvement of food service quality and experience.
Duties will vary, you must expect to diversify and lend a hand wherever is required. Please see the attached document for our full job description.
Skills and Qualifications
Essential:
* Level 2 Food Hygiene & Safety (Catering)
* Good to advanced IT literacy, specifically in Outlook and Excel
* Working knowledge of health and safety legislation (including COSHH, manual handling, and food hygiene)
* Knowledge of Natasha's Law
* Good literacy, numeracy, and communication skills
* Ability to work under pressure and prioritise tasks
* Commitment to safeguarding and promoting wellbeing
* Positive work attitude and attention to detail
Desirable:
* First Aid Certificate (or willingness to obtain)
* Personal experience or knowledge of disability and inclusive practices
Benefits and Additional Information
What's on offer:
* Opportunities for meaningful career development
* Fully funded training and qualifications
* Life assurance
* Enhanced pension scheme
* Perk Box - offering high street discounts
* Employee assistance programme
* Bike to work scheme
* Car lease scheme
How to Apply:
You can apply online by completing our online application form. For more information on this position please contact
Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.
This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled.
Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.
Recruiter contact:
Email us
Call us
About Aurora Meldreth Manor School
Aurora Meldreth Manor School
Fenny Lane, Meldreth, Royston
Hertfordshire
SG8 6LG
United Kingdom
Welcome to our Special Needs School in Meldreth, Cambridge
Here at Aurora Meldreth Manor, many of our students have complex learning difficulties, often associated with profound physical disabilities and/or medical needs. Whatever a student's abilities or challenges, we aim to provide them with memorable experiences and stimulating activities that promote self-esteem and personal independence.
This approach is enhanced by the imaginative use of a variety of suitable and interesting resources and environments – from the rich experiences of sound, colour and touch in the sensory room, through to energising rebound therapy and physical exercises in the hydrotherapy pool.
As a registered children's home, we can also provide students with a vibrant yet homely space in which to live, whether throughout the year or just for a short break.
We hope you enjoy reading about our school and residential facilities, and we look forward to welcoming you and your child to our community here at Aurora Meldreth Manor.
Denise Grayston - Principal, Aurora Meldreth Manor School and Children's Home
Our School
Aurora Meldreth Manor supports children and young people aged 6-19 with highly complex learning difficulties associated with conditions such as cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, degenerative conditions or autism spectrum conditions requiring a specialist approach.
We offer day placements for 38 weeks of the year and flexible residential placements for up to 52 weeks, including weekly boarding and shared-care arrangements or residential care placements for young people accessing other local schools.
The support we provide enables each of our students to engage and progress at their own level within a living and learning environment designed to help them achieve their full potential as they reach adulthood.
Our Facilities
Aurora Meldreth Manor is situated on a beautiful 14-acre site in the village of Meldreth, on the border of Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
The school is fully accessible with hoisting facilities available throughout, and offers a range of modern, creative spaces for living and learning.
Facilities include:
* Interior-designed living areas
* Landscaped gardens
* Multi-use activity area
* Hydrotherapy pool
* Rebound therapy
* Multi-media room
* Multi-sensory areas
* Individual learning areas for break-out time and quiet time
A range of therapy is available at Aurora Meldreth Manor, including physiotherapy, speech and language and occupational therapy. We also offer nursing support where required, and we are one of the few schools in the country that caters for students with specialist medical requirements associated with complex health needs, such as enteral feeding.
Residential Facilities
Aurora Meldreth Manor is also a registered children's home, providing flexible, accessible accommodation and a vibrant yet homely space in which to live.
Houses have spacious living/dining room with TV, games and eating areas and individual bedrooms with a mix of bathing facilities and hoisting throughout for safe and easy movement for those with physical conditions. For those that can eat orally, fresh food is prepared daily by our chef and a variety of tastes and diets are catered for.
Our residential care team is passionate about ensuring that every individual is happy, healthy and well-supported. Alongside delivering personal care and helping with the management of epilepsy and other conditions, our staff support our residents to develop friendships, explore new interests and take advantage of after-school and social activities.
We encourage families to visit regularly and are able to offer limited family accommodation
Our Curriculum
We follow the IMPACTS curriculum, a needs-led programme focusing on the key areas of: communication, cognition, physical development, environmental control technology, and personal, emotional and social wellbeing (which includes self-help and self-advocacy skills).
Where appropriate, the National Curriculum is taken into consideration in the planning and delivery of activities.
Teaching staff work together with therapists and learning support assistants to develop and deliver a meaningful, appropriate and personalised curriculum for every student. Classes are grouped according to students' sensory needs, cognitive understanding and compatibility.
Some of our students have particular interests which are related to their developmental age rather than their chronological age. We consider it important to strike the right balance in acknowledging the students' interests and offering age-appropriate options.
Our Outcomes · 100% of children and young people work towards formal qualifications such as AQA awards · 100% of the children and young people access an integrated therapeutic curriculum in preparation for adulthood · All our outdoor learning areas are fully inclusive, these include a Forest School, a Musical Garden as well as a number of Outdoor Learning Stations.
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