School Cook

The Windmill School would like to appoint a School Cook to prepare and cook healthy and nutritious meals for our autistic students in our brand-new state-of-the-art kitchen. Working with the Headteacher, you will be responsible for devising menus which cater for sensory needs, adhere to nutritional standards for school meals, comply with health and safety legislation, working within a fixed budget.

We are a special free school for autistic students aged 4 – 19 years. The school is expanding rapidly, with 40 students on roll from September 2024 and we are planning to reach our full capacity of 90 students over the next few years. As part of the wider Barnet Special Education Trust, we are also intending to offer our SEN adult learners access to meaningful work experience opportunities within the Windmill School kitchen. At this stage in the expansion of the school, you will be working alone to cater for the students on roll who are choosing to have a school meal. As the school continues to expand, you will have management responsibility for any additional kitchen staff hired.

Requirements and responsibilities

• Previous catering experience within a commercial kitchen- ideally within a school kitchen setting
• Awareness of school nutritional standards.
• Health and Safety hygiene accreditation and appropriate food handling and storage qualifications
• Experience of ordering food and catering supplies, working within a set budget.
• The ability to think flexibly and creatively about menu options that meet national nutritional standards, whilst catering to the needs of young people with sensory issues.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills and resilience. 
• A child centred approach to pupil well-being. 

We offer you the opportunity to work with amazing young people and be part of a committed and dedicated staff team who place student wellbeing at the forefront of practice. You will have access to a newly installed  catering kitchen with brand new equipment and The Windmill School is ideally located for public transport links. This position might be well suited to people who have parent/carer responsibilities for school-age children due to the mainly term time only on site commitment and part time hours that fit around school pick-up and drop off.  Barnet Special Education Trust is a community where all staff feel happy, valued and supported. All Trust employees have free access to our Employee Assistance Provider.