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Sean’s vision for school food evolution Sean Corbitt is leading the ongoing development of the food served in Sodexo’s government schools. 06 Celebrity’s fish passion captivates pupils Exeter secondary school pupils enjoyed sharing celebrity chef James Tanner’s passion for sustainable fish. 08 Chemistry lesson led to nutrition career Wan Mak told girls at Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon how her career began in a chemistry lesson. 07 02 Caretakers play pivotal role at exam time Hello Exam time provides a perfect example of how Sodexo’s caretakers can improve quality of life in school. The setting up of tables and chairs exactly as required ensures students and staff can focus solely on the exam. Sodexo is committed to gender diversity and has a strong culture of supporting and developing women at all levels so we were delighted that our head of nutrition and dietetics, Wan Mak, was able to share her experience at a girls’ secondary school on International Women’s Day. If you have any comments about Looking Ahead, please send me an email to [email protected]. Matt Garner, Managing Director, Government Schools SCHOOLS ISSUE 27 MAY 2016 LOOKING AHEAD FOR SODEXO EDUCATION CLIENTS

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Sean’s vision forschool food evolution

Sean Corbitt is leading the ongoing development of the food served in Sodexo’s government schools.

06

Celebrity’s fish passion captivates pupils

Exeter secondary school pupils enjoyed sharing celebrity chef James Tanner’s passion for sustainable fish.

08Chemistry lesson led to nutrition career

Wan Mak told girls at Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon how her career began in a chemistry lesson.

07

02 Caretakers play pivotal role at exam time

uk.sodexo.com

HelloExam time provides a perfect example of how Sodexo’s caretakers can improve quality of life in school. The setting up of tables and chairs exactly as required ensures students and staff can focus solely on the exam.

Sodexo is committed to gender diversity and has a strong culture of supporting and developing women at all levels so we were delighted that our head of nutrition and dietetics, Wan Mak, was able to share her experience at a girls’ secondary school on International Women’s Day.

If you have any comments about Looking Ahead, please send me an email to [email protected].

Matt Garner, Managing Director, Government Schools

independent SchoolS

SCHooLS

ISSuE 27 MAy 2016LookInG AHEADfoR SoDExo EDuCATIon CLIEnTS

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Ease and efficiency is one of the six dimensions of quality of life Sodexo aims to deliver and at exam time it particularly comes to the fore. Mel Dixon reports.

Caretakers play pivotal role to ensure exams run smoothly

Gareth Mottershead turned his passion for retro computer consoles into a fundraising opportunity and collected £650 for Stop Hunger, a worldwide

Sodexo initiative which tackles hunger, supports good nutrition and promotes life skills in local communities.

With support from friends, Gareth sourced and contacted dealers, collectors and enthusiasts in the Conwy/Llandudno area to bring a retro rewind gaming event to the hall at Ysgol John Bright, and sold tickets to the public.

“We had posters made and advertised on the web, in local press and on local radio,” said Gareth. “Everyone who came had a fantastic time.”

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At the height of exam season, all schools are under pressure to make sure exams run according to schedule and abide by strict examining board

guidelines. The role played by invigilators and teachers is well

understood. What’s less well known is the role played by those responsible for setting up the rooms in the first place.

Sodexo caretakers at Ysgol Aberconwy in North Wales are one such team who are behind the scenes making sure exams run smoothly and efficiently. It’s one of three schools in Conwy where Sodexo provides integrated facilities management services as part of a 25-year

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Joyce Hegarty joined Sodexo after a career in electronic engineering and operations management.

During that time she worked for multi-national companies such as IBM, Motorola and Vodafone, before stepping away from the workplace to raise her five children, three boys and two girls now aged four to 11.

When she decided to return to the working world after four years as a full-time mum, she realised it wasn’t going to be easy.

“It was a huge challenge for me to get the confidence back,” said Joyce. “But when I joined Sodexo I found it was such a friendly, warm and welcoming company.”

At Sodexo she’s thrived in her role as contract manager for two PPP school contracts, which include 10 schools across eight sites, in Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Wicklow, Limerick, Cork and Meath, where she lives in the village of Longwood.

The teams at each school provide a full range of services, including cleaning, security, waste management, energy management, maintenance, landscaping and IT.

“Every service we provide effects the quality of life of the students and staff,” Joyce explained. “So we make sure that when they arrive in the morning they come into a safe, secure premises and that the facilities are clean and well maintained. We also make sure they are provided with the best equipment available.

“One of our main challenges is energy and waste management. We’re continually coming up with new ideas and working with the school principals; working out how we can reduce the energy and waste management bills.”

While a large part of Joyce’s role is overseeing contractual compliance and liaising with clients, one of the most rewarding aspects has been her close involvement in developing improved facilities for children with disabilities.

For these projects, Joyce liaises with all parties involved, including students, architects, designers, and school heads to ensure each project fulfils its objective.

“There were 12 students with disabilities who came to our school in Kildare before we fitted out the unit. Before they only had the basic desks and some equipment they could use.

“Then when you saw the students come back after the summer to this highly equipped, furnished building that they were able to use, it was wonderful. They were so delighted and so were the teachers and special needs assistants.”

This summer, Joyce will oversee similar developments at Wicklow Town Community College and Abbeyfeale Community College.

Caretakers play pivotal role to ensure exams run smoothly

Group manager Joyce Hegarty juggles being a mother of five with overseeing facilities management at 10 Government schools in Ireland. Mel Dixon reports.

Waste and energy solutions all part of Joyce’s expertise

private finance initiative (PFI). “We have exams throughout the year but before the

summer holidays is the busiest time,” said Gareth Mottershead, caretaker at Ysgol Aberconwy, a mixed comprehensive school for 900 11 to 18-year-olds. “Our main job is to make sure we get the tables and chairs counted and in position and measured out.

“For official exams we have to measure every table to ensure it’s under official conditions.”

At Aberconwy, Gareth and the rest of the caretaking team have the added challenge of transporting tables and chairs from the school hall to the larger sports hall where they set up for up to 251 people.

“We have to get matting down to protect the sports hall floors and then set up the room,” he added. “We usually get things set up on the weekend so that it’s ready for the Monday and then it’s just a case of maintaining it during the week.”

It’s a process which is repeated throughout the three-to-six week exam period. The integral role they play is fully understood by Sodexo senior site services manager, Heather Buckle.

“They take away the worry that our schools would have in finding the correct amount of desks and chairs, erecting them safely and ensuring that the correct spacing is in place,” she explained.

“If requested, we are also able to ensure any additional equipment, such as PCs, videos and TVs, required to complete the exam, are in place and fully functioning.”

With exams now being held more often throughout the academic year, Sodexo teams have successfully adapted to the increased demands.

Heather added: “Flexibility is paramount. Our teams have been especially supportive in this and have gone out of their way to ensure the work required is completed in a timely manner.”

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Joyce Hegarty

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Students and staff at schools served by Sodexo discovered something quite different on the menu when a chef from the Middle East paid a visit.

Lebanese chef Bilal introducesfavourite Gulf and Arab meals

‘Eager response from school staff and pupils’

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Dishes such as beef koftas, chicken biryani, vegetable salona and Yemeni rice awaited inquisitive students, along with fattoush, tabouleh and green avocado

salads, topped off with a dessert called um ali.Beirut-born Bilal Eido, an experienced Sodexo chef

who works in the United Arab Emirates, brought them to schools on his first-ever visit to the UK last month.

It was all part of Sodexo’s annual global chef programme which is designed to give pupils a taste of another culture while exposing the company’s chefs to new techniques

and flavours. Amongst the chefs who worked alongside Bilal were

Comfort Olajide-Shomade from Dunraven School, Streatham, chef manager John Roper at Oasis Academy Coulsdon and Steve Beasley, Sodexo’s general services manager at Queen Elizabeth’s School, Wimborne.

Comfort and Steve also travelled to London for a pre-tour culinary day where Bilal gave a practical demonstration of the dishes he was going to prepare. Bilal was assisted on his school visits by Ryan Wilson, a Sodexo executive head chef in its independent schools business.

“Ryan’s support was immense and he was really impressed with what Government Schools are doing with The Social brand,” reported business support manager, Ian Mort, who co-ordinated the visits.

Ian was particularly intrigued by Bilal’s “weird” dessert, um ali. “It involves puff pastry, infused milk and whipped cream which is then baked! None of us thought that whipped cream in an oven seemed quite right, but it was delicious,” he said.

“There was great engagement from all the site teams, supported by account managers working the counters, some great marketing and counter set-ups, and an eager response from school staff and pupils everywhere we went,” Ian added.

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Steve Beasley is busy in the ktichen with Bilal Eido at Queen Elizabeth’s School, Wimborne.

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Each site team signed a chef’s jacket with goodwill messages as a memento for Bilal to frame and take back to Abu Dhabi.

Amongst the words people used in feedback to Steve were “awesome”,

“lush”, “absolutely delicious” and “incredible” and one added: “It was so delicious and I hope that we can have it again one day.

“My dad is Algerian so this brought back some lovely memories of Morocco and Egypt.”

Dunraven School expressed its thanks on Twitter and director of administration and business, Micon Metcalfe, tweeted her gratitude to Sodexo for arranging Bilal’s visit.

Oasis Academy Coulsdon included a mention of the special event in its regular emailed publication.

Bilal said his passion for cooking began at an early age and it has been his career for the past 20 years at exclusive restaurants, hotels and catering companies throughout Syria, Doha (Qatar) and Lebanon.

“As well as cooking, my passion is to develop new chefs to discover their own talents in the same way I was encouraged,” he added.

“I chose dishes that are big favourites with Arabic and Gulf States people,” he said, although he avoided using one of the meats normally cooked back home – camel –instead replacing it with beef and chicken!

The global chef programme provides an opportunity for Sodexo’s top chefs worldwide to travel to different countries and share authentic international cuisine with students and staff.

Later in the year two UK chefs will take some classic English recipes to another country and work alongside its chef s to sample a different culture.

Strategic development director, Peter Taylor explained: “The global chef programme dovetails perfectly with our quality of life proposition in widening people’s horizons by

introducing them to different cultures and tastes.“Some students tend to have narrow food choices but

by introducing this type of authentic cuisine we can help them become more confident in what they select.

“It is also motivational for our employees,” he said. “It helps to spread knowledge, develop their skills and give them a connection to the wider company and its opportunities.”

Above, John Roper welcomes Bilal to Oasis Academy Coulsdon where, left, they covered the occasion in their school magazine.

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Comfort Olajide-Shomade, a Sodexo chef at Dunraven School, keeps a close eye on how

Bilal Eido prepares one of his dishes.

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Sodexo is building on its commitment to provide food service excellence across its government schools portfolio with the appointment of a full-time executive development chef. Mel Dixon reports.

Chef Sean’s vision to steerfood evolution in schools

‘Today’s children like texture, colour and a little funky twist’

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Sean Corbitt is looking forward to leading the ongoing development of the food served in Sodexo’s Government Schools together with the way it is presented.

He is looking to build on the step change made in the last 18 months since Sodexo introduced The Social retail offer in secondary schools which mirrors high street trends and meets the changing demands of children.

The former Pelican Group head chef, who learnt his trade under British cuisine pioneer Alastair Little, started his Government Schools post in January with the chefs and staff at the five secondary schools and one primary school that make up Sodexo’s PFI contract in Exeter.

“They gave me a really warm welcome and were all eager to learn,” said Sean. “We’ve invested heavily in the presentation of the counters, so they look much fresher, much cleaner, and more interactive and child-friendly.

“School catering has changed dramatically over the last 10 to 20 years.” said Sean, who has moved to England after his previous role running Sodexo’s Knead Street Deli in Belfast, which was renowned for using fresh, seasonal and sustainably-sourced ingredients.

“There has been a shift towards better nutritional balance and a more diverse food offering.

“We live in a very multicultural and diverse nation, so part of the challenge is trying to accommodate all the different tastes and flavours with the exciting prospect of children growing up very quickly.”

Even though Sean is equipped with vast knowledge and expertise - including a thorough grounding in classical French cuisine - he recognises that adapting to children’s particular taste buds will be essential.

“Kids now like texture, colour and a little funky twist,” he continued. “For instance, the rice noodle pots we’ve introduced are being received really well and we’re also firing their imaginations with things like the smoothie bikes.”

Sean is a great believer in getting feedback too. “I always want to hear what people think because we can put out the best food on the planet but if it’s not what they want, they won’t enjoy it and they’re not going to learn anything,” he said.

Sean will be sharing his knowledge and expertise with other Sodexo school catering teams across the country and developing their capacity to handle a range of hospitality occasions.

Working closely with nutritionists, Sean aims to create a ‘bible’ of recipes from the most successful menu items.

“We’re working with government bodies, implementing their food nutrition guidance in our schools and adapting that to our menus. All the while we’re taking into account the demographics and cultural influences within each school.”

Sean is also likely to get involved in workshops with celebrity chefs associated with Sodexo, such as Paul Rankin and James Tanner.

“Having successful chefs supporting us is nothing short of a vindication that we’re on the right track with the messages we’re putting across and the food philosophies that we are promoting,” he said.

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Firing imaginations with things like the smoothie bike.

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Sodexo is committed to gender diversity and has a strong culture of supporting and developing women at all levels. On International Women’s Day, head of nutrition and dietetics, Wan Mak, shared her experience.

Chemistry lesson was catalystfor nutrition and dietetics career

Sodexo’s head of nutrition and dietetics, Wan Mak, told girls at a south London comprehensive school how her career began in a chemistry lesson.

The girls at Ricards Lodge High School — one of four Merton secondary schools where Sodexo provides catering — heard how the lesson about food, nutrition and how it interacts and impacts on the body in good and bad ways led Wan to pursue the path she did.

“I gave an overview of my career journey and what inspired me along the way, starting from when I was their age at school,” Wan explained.

“I highlighted the challenges I faced along the way, ending with a few personal tips of advice which included the fact that we never stop learning and, to this day, I still am.”

Wan, a registered dietitian, has over 25 years’ experience in the field of nutrition and dietetics, and is responsible for driving all aspects of nutrition, health and wellbeing for Sodexo’s clients, consumers and employees.

She provides advice to Sodexo’s executive team and senior management on topical issues around nutrition and allergens, including UK and EU adopted regulations.

Wan also works with various government bodies and non-governmental organisations that support the public

health agenda. She gained a first class honours degree (BSc) in food

science and nutrition, followed by a post graduate degree in Dietetics, and a Masters in Business (MBA).

In the talk, she urged the girls to embrace challenges positively. “I said it would develop them further and lead them to their next career move,” she continued.

Wan has worked as a clinical dietitian for the NHS and the private sector, and been a university programme director and nutrition and dietetics lecturer.

“I said to them that they should never shy away from something new as I had demonstrated throughout my very varied career,” Wan added.

Ricards Lodge High headteacher, Alison Jerrard, was grateful for the opportunity the girls had to hear Wan’s story.

“It is fantastic that we can inspire our young people with these events,” she said. “The students really enjoyed Wan’s presentation and that they were given the opportunity to meet with Wan.”

• Sodexo also held its annual Women Work Conference to coincide with International Women’s Day and ran three global webinars with the aim of helping to support and achieve gender balance throughout the organisation.

In the UK and Ireland, 29 per cent of Sodexo’s regional leadership committee are women and 27 per cent of senior managers and 48 per cent of middle managers are female. In Government Schools, 50 per cent of the senior leadership team are women.

Sodexo regional chairman Neil Murray was a speaker at an OECD conference on closing leadership gaps in the public and corporate sectors. The OECD has identified gender equality as a high priority.

Neil said: “Our investment in diversity and inclusion is an investment in the growth of our people and also our business. The smartest companies today are appointing more women in leadership, management and executive positions.

“This isn’t simply because it is the right thing to do; it is proven to drive innovation and impacts profitability.”

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Ricards Lodge High School students heard about Wan Mak’s journey from chemistry lesson to Sodexo head of nutrition and dietetics.

Never stop learning, Wan Mak advised.

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Pupils at two Exeter secondary schools enjoyed a visit from celebrity chef James Tanner who shared with them his passion for sustainable fish.

Celebrity chef captivates Exeter school students

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James Tanner swapped the TV studio for school to share his passion for fish.

James, who began making personal appearances on behalf of Sodexo a year ago, spoke to students from Years 7, 8 and 10 at West Exe and St James Schools.

They are two of the six schools in the Devon city where Sodexo has a contract to provide facilities management services, including catering, as part of a private finance initiative contract.

It’s a part of the world familiar to James who, with his brother Chris, has a brasserie 40 minutes away along the A38 in Plymouth.

“It is brilliant to be able to enlighten students to the effects of sustainable food sources and give them a new taste experience; after all, they are my future customers,” said James.

Assisted by Sean Corbitt, executive development chef for Government Schools, James also prepared tasting sessions of Thai mackerel pate and introduced the pupils to the fragrances of lemon grass and fresh root ginger in a sensory session of look, touch and smell.

James met the catering teams at both schools and worked alongside Sean and business support manager Ian Mort to put on a live cookery demonstration under one of the new range of #Go…pop ups, adorned with new 10ft sails, developed by Ian.

The tasty treats on offer were salt and chilli squid and zingy mini pollock fish cakes with dipping sauces.

“Great food in a great setting saw us absolutely swamped by students,” said Ian. “There was a real vibrant feel in both locations together with inquisitive students and staff.”

Numerous selfies and autographs were the order of the day with James signing specially-developed recipe cards under the “The Social” strapline.

Lauren Dunk, head of food technology at St James School, said: “What a fantastic experience for our students to meet such a passionate personality and try new foods. It has been greatly rewarding and links so well with our curriculum.”

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It features targets and achievements, case studies and infographics representing projects from each of the four pillars of

the Better Tomorrow Plan – community, as an employer, nutrition health and wellbeing and environment..

The Better Tomorrow Plan is Sodexo’s sustainability strategy which focuses on the issues that are most important to Sodexo’s business and stakeholders - issues identified through ongoing engagement and consultation.

Sodexo corporate responsibility manager Edwina Hughes said: “Corporate responsibility isn’t a new idea, it’s the concept that a company is responsible to more than its financial shareholders.

“Whether a company considers its employees, its community, its suppliers or all of these groups as stakeholders, the expectation is that the interests of these groups or stakeholders should bear some weight alongside their financial counterparts in corporate decision making.”

Edwina said throughout history great companies have given back to the communities in which they operate – for example, Guinness, Rockefeller and Rowntree.

They have shared a belief that something

more than short term financial gain guides the company in the long-term decisions it makes.

“Some people call it corporate responsibility, some call it enlightened self interest and the phrase that I hear most regularly now is responsible business,” said Edwina.

“Regardless of the words you use, the measure of how responsible the company is, in large part, determined by how much these non-financial stakeholders influence the long-term strategy of the company.

“At Sodexo we strive to engage our stakeholders to the good of all.”

Some of most notable achievements realised by positive partnership working with suppliers, clients and employees are:• achieving a 91% landfill avoidance rate

with waste• an additional 269% of certified coffee

purchased at Sodexo since 2009• over 1,000 vocational learners employed

in the UK & Ireland• a 4.5 per cent carbon footprint reduction

relative to Sodexo’s business growth 2015.Copies of the summary report can be

ordered by contacting [email protected].

* See pages 10-11 to find out how Sodexo is tackling school food waste.

Ever since boyhood days freshwater angling with his granddad, James Tanner has taken a keen interest in fish.Carp, chard and dace were

amongst his catches as a nine-year-old: now it’s the future of many sea species found in the waters around Britain that he has in his sights.

James has risen to national prominence through his appearances on TV programmes like ITV’s Lorraine and the BBC’s Ready Steady Cook, and he and his older brother Chris developed their culinary expertise working for the famous French Roux brothers in London and New York, and for the two Michelin Star chef Martin Blunos.

The brothers have a pub in their home county of Kent called the Kentish Hare and West Country business interests in Looe, Cornwall. Their former Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth won nationwide recognition when it was named AA Restaurant of the Year while they have run a brasserie, Barbican Kitchen, in Plymouth’s old harbour area, The Barbican, for 10 years.

James has a special licence to trade with the fish market in Looe and is passionate about protecting the fish stocks in the waters around the British Isles.

Sodexo has been working closely with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) since July 2008 to ensure it sources certified sustainable fish.

MSC is an international non-governmental

organisation dedicated to reducing the decline in wild fish stocks.

Sodexo has a range of over 50 MSC-certified products available, covering species such as pollock, coldwater prawns, cod and mackerel.

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How James caught his passion for fish

Responsibility spelled out in reportSodexo marked Responsible Business Week with a series of activities, starting with publication of its corporate responsibility report for the year.

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Sodexo’s team at West Kirby Grammar School is piloting a global initiative to reduce food waste - and the count has just begun. Mel Dixon reports.

School takes food waste monitoring to next level

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Joe McDonnell inputs information.

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West Kirby Grammar School in Wirral is among the selected UK schools served by Sodexo which are piloting a global initiative - The International Food

Waste Coalition - which aims to introduce a collaborative farm-to-fork approach against food waste.

Sodexo has its Better Tomorrow Plan and has long been active in food waste reduction. Now though it is joining forces with other major food services businesses to try to bring about significant change.

ARDO, SCA, PepsiCo, McCain, Unilever Food Solutions and Sodexo have partnered with WWF and together represent the largest geographic food services footprint in the world. Their two main objectives are to:• find innovate solutions to tackle food waste at the different stage of the value chain, from farm to fork and;• prevent any new legislation that would create new constraints for our business, and promote some necessary changes in some legislation that create food waste.

West Kirby Grammar School is one of the schools involved in the coalition’s pilot project and Lorna Donatone, CEO Schools Worldwide, explained: “We want to understand where waste occurs in the different steps of the value

chain and raise awareness of the students and teachers about this question.

“Children are influencers for families and they can create a virtuous circle in future society.”

The coalition chair, Damien Verdier, Sodexo group chief strategy, research and innovation officer, added: “Food waste is now on the political agenda of many countries and many international organisations. Dialogue and joint actions like the IFWC enables us to go far beyond what we could achieve alone, as well as for our clients.

“Today, we live in a world where more than 30 per cent of all the food that we produce is left uneaten, whilst more than 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

“In addition, the world’s population is forecast to grow from 7 to 9.6 billion during the next 35 years, placing our natural resources under increasing pressure.

“Two years ago, this scenario brought us to the conclusion that many initiatives may exist, but it has not been on a comprehensive scale. Tackling food waste requires concerted effort, from all food chain stakeholders.

“So we decided to mobilise our most already engaged suppliers and clients to create a non-profit organisation, a collaborative farm-to-fork approach against food waste throughout the food services value chain.”

West Kirby Grammar School has already started doing its bit by counting food waste and analysing the results in minute detail.

“It’s to see how much food waste we have in the kitchen and how much the children throw away in the restaurant,” said Shaun McDonnell, Sodexo’s facilities manager and head chef at the school.

“We have a big set of scales in the kitchen and we weigh everything. Even when people peel the fruit and veg, they’ll weigh the skins. Once it’s weighed we record it on our tablets.”

By entering accurate information into a digital device, a breakdown is compiled of food waste over the week, including how much has been saved and it’s monetary worth.

“All the staff are trained on how to record the waste,” Shaun continued. “Initially people were worried about what

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Shaun McDonnell and his team were on hand to help clear up after a burst storage tank flooded

a section of West Kirby Grammar School in November last year.

The school canteen, dining room, corridors and classrooms suffered significant water damage as a result of thousands of gallons of water cascading through the roof.

“I got a phone call from the caretaker at 7am on the Saturday

morning asking if he could borrow a few squeegees because they’d had a bit of a flood. So, I came in to see what had happened and I wasn’t expecting that much devastation,” said Shaun.

“I let my staff know what was going on. I didn’t expect them to come in but six or seven of them turned up to help on a Saturday morning without being asked.”

They were praised by head teacher Alison Duffy for their efforts to

reduce the damage. Even though the dining room was shut till after Christmas, the catering team managed to provide a temporary food service.

“We’ve had to have a whole new floor laid-down in the dining room and 300 new chairs. It’s virtually a brand new dining room; only the tables have survived.”

The school’s Christmas dinner was postponed and incorporated with Valentine’s Day before half-term.

Sodexo’s facilities manager and head chef, Shaun McDonnell, is embracing the waste reduction goals.

Praise for response to flood emergency

it would entail and how long it would take. But they’ve adapted well. As soon as there’s waste they are there weighing it.”

Shaun has been facilities manager at West Kirby Grammar since 2011 and his 11-strong team serve the 1,200 secondary school girls and students from the mixed sixth-form, plus teachers and support staff.

Those who enjoy the Sodexo team’s cuisine also have some responsibility. Any food on their plates must be scraped into the appropriate bins so it can be weighed and counted. It’s also been used as an opportunity to teach children about the importance of reducing food waste.

“We’ve got the school council and a couple of teachers involved with passing the message out to students to keep

the waste separate,” said Shaun. “We’re in the initial weeks of the scheme and they’re 90 per cent there. There’s only an occasional cup that ends up in the wrong bin.”

However, Shaun has long had practices in place to help minimise food waste.

“We get to know how the girls eat. On certain days there’s more girls coming in and eating. So, there are peaks and troughs and we can gauge that. We can also gauge what the favourites are so that we can provide more of what they want.”

With food waste a pressing concern around the world, pilot projects like that at West Kirby Grammar School will provide the kind of accurate data and vital insights which will inform future waste-saving strategies.

‘Children are influencers for families and they can create a virtuous circle in future society’

Linda Rainford weighs waste.

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Paul Rankin offers a taster to

student Ashley Kemp, who

found the chef’s visit

inspirational.

Below, Paul meets some of the

Sodexo team at South Tyneside

College who prepare and serve

meals seven days a week

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If you would like to discuss any

aspect of this publication or to

talk about Sodexo’s services,

please contact:

Matt GarnerManaging DirectorSodexo Government Schools+44 (0) 1793 [email protected]

Sodexo EducationDelta 1100Delta Office ParkWelton RoadSwindonSN5 7XZ

uk.sodexo.com12