WeCook – Fuelling the Future

Pupils’ plea for more school cooks to “keep our bellies and brains busy”!

The Council has launched a recruitment drive in a bid to attract more school cooks and kitchen assistants.

Pupils have also joined the campaign appealing for more chefs to “keep our bellies and brains busy!”

There are a number of relief cook and kitchen assistant posts across school catering – for more information on the jobs available in Orkney’s schools take a look online at https://www.orkney.gov.uk/cooks

The Council’s school catering manager, Scott Pring, said: “Children and young people know a tasty, healthy meal at lunchtime can make all the difference to how well they learn later in the day and they were delighted to help launch the campaign to ensure our kitchens are fully staffed. Many who have worked in our school kitchens have been with us for a very long time which is testament to the great working environment and love of the job. Please consider giving a career in catering a go – there are various roles from cooks to kitchen assistants to relief work.”

Papdale Primary School pupil, Ruby, said:  “We are the best school and have the best cooks, but we need some more people to help in the kitchen to make sure we can carry on getting the amazing meals at lunchtime too. They put a lot of effort into making our meals and my favourite is macaroni cheese. Please think about applying for a job in the kitchen at Papdale, they are always happy when they come and serve us.”

Fellow pupil, Nuala, added: “We are really grateful for the school meals as the food is amazing. My favourite is the chicken fjitas. They deserve to have as many staff as they need and then they could maybe even make the food even better! Please think about joining the school catering team.”

Young student, Sarah, concluded: “It’s a shame for them if they don’t have enough kitchen staff and cooks – they do a really good job though, but it would be even better for them if some more people came forward to be a cook or an assistant. My mum works in the kitchen, and she loves it. A good school meal is really important for us too as it helps us to learn in the afternoon.”

Assistant cook, Eileen Fraser, has been serving up tasty school meals to primary children in Firth for the past 31 years. She is retiring on Friday 1 April – the last day of term.

Eileen is one of many dedicated school catering staff across Orkney who provide an essential service to our children and young people – fuelling their future through food!

She has catered for several generations at the old and new Firth Schools.

“I may just have sneaked into the third generation. Does that make me very old?” she laughs.

“I can honestly say I just love my job. Let’s face it, I wouldn’t have been here for 31 years if I didn’t like it! I love seeing the bairns and each has their own character. My work colleagues over the years have made it really special too. I’ve worked with Sylvia for 22 years and Amanda it must be around a decade or more.”

She has mixed feelings on her retirement.

“It’s been such a huge part of my life, I’m sure I will miss the people and bairns hugely but it’s time for a change. I really would like to encourage others to give school catering a go – it really is a fantastic job with lots of benefits. It’s ideal for someone with children as you never need to worry about finding childcare, you have that security of working with the Council, being part of a small team and, most importantly, it’s just great fun.”

Kitchen assistant at Papdale Primary, Monica Cooper added: “I wanted a job that would fit in around my bairns so working in the school kitchen is just perfect. The days are busy, the team I work with are great and I really do love it. I would genuinely encourage anyone to give it a go, you don’t have to be an experienced cook as there’s lots of variety within the job – from preparing the fruit, to making up the sandwiches and fillings for the baked tatties to prepping the veg. I love my job. Please think about coming and joining out team – we’re a friendly bunch to work with.”

Work colleague, Beth Mendes added: “I came to work here when the bairns went to school which is about 6 years ago now. I had a catering background anyway and the hours are perfect meaning I can be home for them outwith school hours and holidays – there’s no stress involved in trying to organise childcare. I wonder if some folk are put off by it as they think they have to be able to be an experienced cook, but that’s not the case if you are applying for a kitchen assistant post. There’s a huge variety of jobs to do that actually don’t involve cooking as such, from the prep work to making up the sandwiches and fillings, to cleaning up and preparing fruit and vegetables. Just give it a go, we are a great team, full of fun and the hours just fly by.”

A fellow kitchen assistant at Papdale Primary, Beth Walter said: “I’m new here in the kitchen at Papdale as I only started in October last year but I’m really enjoying it. Knowing I would be off outwith school hours and the school holidays was a definite selling point for me having young children. I wasn’t sure about applying as I thought you would have to do a lot of cooking – but in my role that’s not the case so don’t let that put you off. We are a great bunch to work with so give it a go.”