1 Year Fixed Term Contract to Start September 2026
37 hours per week, Monday to Friday
Hours can be flexible and will be discussed at interview
Grade 7 SCP 8-14 – £13.90 to £15.31 per hour
Term Time only plus 5 Staff Training Days
Ferndown Upper School operates an in-house catering service for over 1,000 students with provision at breakfast, mid-morning break and lunch time.
We are looking to recruit a Catering Manager on a 1 year fixed term contract to run our busy kitchen and lead the catering team. The successful applicant will be a natural leader with good communication skills to motivate the team in providing an exceptional and outstanding service to students and staff. You will have responsibility for managing the school’s kitchen including the preparation, cooking and service of freshly cooked food ensuring the highest levels of food hygiene and health and safety are maintained. You will be highly organised and have good leadership and administrative skills.
Key responsibilities to include:
* Support the day-to-day running of the catering service, ensuring high standards of cleanliness, food presentation and customer service within the café and kitchen areas.
* Supervise and support the catering team to ensure a consistent and friendly service is provided to students, staff, and visitors.
* Assist with staff induction, training and ongoing development where required.
* Ensure compliance with Food Safety, Environmental Health and Health & Safety procedures and guidelines.
* Assist with monitoring budgets, controlling costs and maintaining accurate catering records and generating reports.
* Monitor stock levels, support ordering processes and help minimise wastage.
* Maintain positive working relationships with suppliers and support value-for-money purchasing.
* Support the School Business Manager in delivering hospitality and catering services across the school.
The successful candidate will have experience working within a busy catering or kitchen environment and be confident supporting the day-to-day running of a catering service. You will hold a Level 2 Food Safety Certificate, with a Level 3 qualification desirable. Training and support towards achieving Level 3 will be provided if required.
What Ferndown Can Offer You:
* CPD opportunities and training and development programmes.
* Eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme.
* Access to health and wellbeing support.
* Private Healthcare Cash Back Plan including 24/7 access to a GP by phone, gym discounts, cashback for optical, dental and other appointment expenses.
* Access to staff benefits and discounts portal through Dorset Council.
Application Form and Job Description available via Dorset Jobs or our school website.
Job Description
Job title: Cook
Job ref: XS 2.1
Grade: Dorset Grade 7
Reports to: Headteacher
Main job purpose
To manage the kitchen, to prepare and cook meals, and to oversee the tasks undertaken by the Kitchen
Assistant(s). This will be conducted in accordance with food handling and preparation regulations, ensuring
safe and proper use of the kitchen/catering equipment and materials provided.
Main responsibilities and duties
* To supervise, direct and train Kitchen Assistants.
* To generate and process all food orders, pass invoices for payment and to keep all records and stock
books, as required.
* To prepare, cook, manage and serve school meals.
* To supervise lunch time service
* To maintain all areas of the kitchen and pieces of equipment, to necessary standards of kitchen
hygiene.
* Wash up, as appropriate.
* To prepare beverages and refreshments, as requested.
* Promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the school’s
safeguarding and child protection policy.
Knowledge & skills
Minimum Basic Food and Hygiene qualification.
Preferably City and Guilds 706/1 or equivalent NVQ Qualification and experience in School meals provision.
Supervision & management
A requirement to supervise and deploy kitchen assistant(s) as appropriate
Problem solving and creativity
Work to strict deadlines to plan day to day activities, but within established routines, within the budget and
guidelines on nutritional content.
Key contacts & relationships
Deal with routine enquires from staff, students, visitors etc but to refer more complex queries affecting the
service / arrangements to the Headteacher.
Decision making
* Where there is no specified menu, to decide on the school meals to be provided under the guidance of
the Headteacher
* To order stock when appropriate.
Resources
Handles and operates a range of kitchen and food preparation equipment (e.g. Ovens, hobs, food processors, cutting equipment, pans and catering machinery). Training and personal protective equipment will be provided.
Working environment
Kitchen environment. Exposure to hot equipment, materials on a daily and continuous basis.
Requirement to transport/carry foods trays and kitchen equipment (not exceeding 25kg).
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to have an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.
Ferndown Upper School values the diversity of our workforce and welcome applications from all sections of the community. 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) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020) 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.
Ferndown Upper 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. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not be on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.
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