Cornerstone Dining Club
Our dining service sits at the heart of the school day. It is a family-dining experience that allows children of all ages to come together to enjoy a high-quality meal, expertly cooked by one of our fully qualified chefs. Our whole-school food culture promotes neighbourliness and community spirit, we find that this is great way for children to develop essential social skills that are rooted in friendship, respect and kindness.
A Family Dining Experience
We have reduced the cost of a school meal by means of an upfront payment covering each day in a half or whole term. A school dinner can be purchased for the reduced cost of £1.90 per day rather than the average cost of £2.50 in other schools. This is a saving of £4.50 a week or £171 over the school year! This is only financially viable if enough families sign up.
We are pleased to announce that from next term we will be working in partnership with a company called Goosemoor Food Service (formerly known as Dart Fresh) to offer the children a menu that uses far more locally sourced ingredients:
“Goosemoor EduCatering is a Devon based family business bringing a fresh approach to school food, serving up local and affordable excellence into the dining hall. The ethos is simple: exciting child-led menus with only the finest fresh ingredients, grown and sourced locally wherever possible, meaning low food miles and a lower carbon footprint. Be it the beef and lamb from Dartmoor, or the cabbages and cauliflowers from Braunton, provenance is more important than ever, helping us all towards a more sustainable future.”
We have always strived to offer a nutritionally balanced meal, and it is good to know that from next term we will also be offering the additional benefit of greater sustainability.
These meals are prepared by our fully qualified chefs Steve Barlow (Broadclyst), Paul Christian (Westclyst), Laura Thorns (Monkerton) and Darren Wheelhouse (Yeo Valley), all of whom have many years of experience in the catering industry. The service is headed up by our Head Chef, Steve Hodge.
Meet our Chefs
Steve Hodge
Steven Barlow
Laura Thorns
George Rolstone
Karl Davies
Jane Jordan
The school food standards
- Help children develop healthy eating habits.
- Ensure that they get the energy and nutrition they need across the whole school day.
- Cook food that looks good and tastes delicious.
- Talk to the children about what is on offer and recommend dishes.
- Eliminate queuing.
- Serve the food in a pleasant environment where they can eat with their friends.
- Provide a wide range of foods across the week including a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses or types of meat and fish.
- Use fresh, sustainable and locally-sourced ingredients
- Talk to them about what they are eating.
The School Dining Club has become a national case study and is featured on the School Food Plan website where there is information and examples of good practice www.schoolfoodplan.com