Dales Academy Trust- Catering Services

Dales Academies Trust consisting of three Schools in Stockton and eleven Schools in North Yorkshire, have decided to tender their primary school catering services to investigate the financial and qualitative benefits they could be offered as a group.

The Trust 's main aims for the new contract are to have a catering service that:

• Offers food that consistently looks and tastes appetising and is attractively presented.
• Encourages pupils to take a heathy and balanced meal, actively working towards reducing packed lunches
• Provides menus are suitable for a primary school.
• Provides food that fully complies with the Government Standards. Consultation with each school is to be encouraged however the health eating requirements should be the focus of menus.
• Encourages a higher number of pupils to use the lunch service where appropriate including all those entitled to free meals.
• A proactive approach to marketing, community engagement, food education
• Consultation with parents and pupils to illicit feedback.
• Is operated by a catering team who are reliable, well-motivated, managed, trained and developed.
• Is managed by a strong contractor area manager, who will develop and lead the team to deliver a customer service focused offer and spend a substantial amount of time on site, especially at the outset, to facilitate this.
• Is proactively managed and requires minimal management from the Schools' leadership teams.
• Facilitates a dining experience for the pupils that is pleasurable and calm and positively encourages the eating of all their food and developing good table manners and social skills. The idea that the pupil is treated by the catering team in the same manner as they would treat their own children at home.
• Shares best practices between Schools and catering teams about all aspects of the catering service
• Is professionally marketed and promoted to the mutual benefit of the pupils, parents, Schools, and contractor.
• Demonstrates a flexible approach to all School activities and supports aspects of the curriculum as appropriate, including positively contributing to the education of pupils about food and nutrition.
• Is managed by an organisation who works with the Trust in partnership to move the service forward together.
• Achieves best value and eliminates any subsidies as far as is realistically possible.