Kitchen Cook

Pay Scale: £29,540 per annum (pro rata)

Term term only (39 weeks per year)

Working hours: 25 hours per week (8.30am – 1.30pm, Monday – Friday)

Directly responsible to the Headteacher

Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday 13 July 2026 and interviews will take place on the morning of Wednesday 15 July 2026.

 

Purpose:        

  • Manage the effective delivery of high-quality school meals, ensuring pupils receive fresh and nutritious food every day while maintain excellent standards of food safety, hygiene and service.
  • Lead, motivate and support the kitchen team, organise workloads, develop staff and foster a positive team environment that delivers an efficient and welcoming catering service.
  • Play a key role in our school community by bringing enthusiasm, creativity and a commitment to healthy eating, ensuring mealtimes are a positive experience that supports pupils’ wellbeing and enjoyment of school.

 

Key responsibilities:

1. To plan and prepare a healthy and varied 3 weekly menu cycle for each term with support from Relish and taking pupil voice into consideration;

2. To prepare and cook a variety of meals to meet the dietary needs and nutritional targets of all school children, including those within special and/or allergy needs;

3. To work consistently with the school and pupils to increase the uptake of school meals;

4. To respect and maintain the highest standard of food preparation in line with the standards of food quality and service, using appropriate equipment in keeping with the Environmental Health requirements;

5. To make meal times a pleasing and pleasant experience for all children;

6. To follow a cleaning schedule which ensures a high standard of cleanliness complying with Health & Safety Procedures, Food Safety Act (1990) & Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations (1995);

7. To be responsible for maintaining safety standards within the kitchen area together with those safety standards affecting all kitchen staff. To be responsible for stock control using a minimum of once weekly stock checks and to ensure that food stock is not wasted;

8. To be responsible for kitchen equipment, tools and materials including the Relish computer tablet;

9. To be responsible for ordering/purchasing food supplies and essential equipment;

10. To maintain daily records relating to storage temperatures of food products. To maintain all documents and records as determined by the Food Standards Agency, all other legal requirements;

11. To maintain appropriate financial records and remain within an allocated budget;

12. To cater for special occasions, guests or visitors at the school as may be requested by the Headteacher;

13. To maintain the school’s and Cumberland Council’s commitment to equal opportunities and promote non-discriminatory practice in all work aspects;

The duties above are neither exclusive nor exhaustive and the post holder may be required by the Headteacher to carry out appropriate duties within the contract of the jobs, skills and grade.

Please return completed application forms to admin@st-michaels.cumbria.sch.uk marked for the attention of Mrs Lorna Smith.

 

Kitchen Cook - Job Description

Kitchen Cook - Person Specification

Cumberland Council Job Application Form

 

Child Protection Policy 2025/26

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy 2022/23

Workforce Privacy Notice

 

All posts involving direct contact with children are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 and the successful applicant will be required to hold or undergo a suitable enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure. However, amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975 (2013 & 2020)) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected'. These are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be considered. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found on the Ministry of Justice website or via the Unlock website.

Short-listed candidates will be asked to complete a criminal record self-disclosure form to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered or protected, to be returned to the school prior to the date of the interview. You may be asked for further information about your criminal history during the recruitment process. If your application is successful, this criminal record self-disclosure information will be checked against information from the Disclosure and Barring Service before your appointment is confirmed.

In addition to the above, the school reserves the right to carry out an online search on short-listed candidates. This will only include a search for information which is publicly available online.

Please note it is an offence to apply for the role if the applicant is barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.