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School Food & Catering
Our Catering Team provides bespoke and innovative services based on a wealth of experience and a passion for food.
In a region such as ours, hot meals at lunchtime are a lifeline for families and we can’t underestimate the importance of consistently good quality meals and their impact on health and learning.
Our three priorities for excellence are:
Food > People > Partnership
Food
By instilling the knowledge that healthy lunches can be exciting, tasty and filling, we empower young people to make informed choices and develop a lifelong interest in good food.
High-quality ingredients are used to prepare fresh and nutritious meals each day, and menus feature a mix of tried and tested favourites – and dishes that are on-trend for our target audience.
We don’t economise on portion sizes; servings across all food groups are generously in line with School Food Standards. Our offering is quality-assured through responsible procurement, legislative compliance, and robust operational policies. Our commitment to the provision of a sustainable service encompasses the entire food journey, as waste is collected for recycling.
People
Our entire catering team works together to provide a welcoming and nurturing environment. Our school-based employees are ambassadors of our service, and we are committed to empowering them to provide consistently high-quality meals and excellent customer care.
We invest in the continuous professional development of our kitchen teams by providing accredited technical training to ensure legislative compliance, maintain and enhance craft and presentation skills, share ideas, promote good practice, and to provide career and succession planning opportunities. All training is created and delivered within the framework of our own ‘PRIDE’ care charter – our commitment to our customers and to each other.
Partnership
We strive to create and maintain a trusted relationship with the whole school community, based on transparency and supporting your school’s individuality. Each of our partner schools has a dedicated Area Catering Manager, supported by a Catering Support Supervisor; regular communication and updates from our Catering Senior Leadership Team are shared alongside contract monitoring and performance reviews.
We are always keen to engage with pupils and families to share information and attend events including assemblies, School Council, and Reception intake days. We actively support the SIPS Net Zero pledge to minimise our carbon footprint, with colleagues signing up to an ‘Energy Reduction Pledge’ to reduce energy use in school kitchens.
Specialists in the education catering sector
Bespoke solutions for schools
More than two million meals served each year
We're not-for-profit
Why SIPS?
- We’re food specialists – we produce and serve a fresh, healthy meal to over 11,000 students a day – that’s 2.2 million+ hot meals every year!
- Our menus follow the Department for Education’s School Food Plan (www.schoolfoodplan.com), which sets out 17 actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food.
- What’s more, we put a heavy focus on food provenance; we source ingredients with an emphasis on quality, ethical sourcing and local spend.
- We know that sometimes schools feel that their school lunches are in need of a different approach or are experiencing ‘menu fatigue’. We work hard to ensure that this isn’t the case for ours.
- As a not-for-profit organisation, we concentrate on providing a range of high-quality, child-friendly, food. By improving the quality of food on offer, together with our on-trend menus and exceptional customer care, we can support schools to significantly increase the uptake of meals.
- Children are at the heart of everything we do – and we go above and beyond to nurture and support young people in school, and we understand the responsibility of feeding someone’s child.
SIPS Catering offers bespoke and innovative service, working in partnership with schools to deliver a range of solutions that go beyond lunchtime:
- Breakfast, mid-morning and after-school provision
- Cookery clubs and curriculum activities
- Meeting, training days and staff catering
- Corporate and civic events
- Children’s centres and creches
Supporting the 'Free From' customer
We understand that some of our customers need to keep a careful eye on their diet. Our approach to allergen compliance is positive – we always concentrate on what the student can eat, not what they can’t. Our staff are fully trained to provide advice and support along the way, and have plenty of information to hand.
Theme days
We know that the whole school enjoys celebrating special events, and our ever-growing portfolio of themed menus provides plenty to choose from – we provide the posters, the recipes and much more. All of our school-based events and promotions are marketed under the banner of our very own award-winning ‘mission nutrition’ brand.
Family engagement
We actively seek opportunities to gather feedback from parents and carers about our service, building trust and developing relationships.
Cashless solutions
We work with a leading systems provider to support schools to move to becoming cashless for as many income streams as they choose; not just for meals.
Pre-order solutions
Putting you in charge of what your child eats, you can pre-order your child’s food in advance from the comfort of your home, or on the go, 24/7
Planning for the unexpected
We offer a range of solutions to support you to keep school open and meals served on site in the event of equipment failure or the kitchen being out of action.
Curriculum support
As a provider of a range of specialist services, we work with colleagues from our School Improvement service to develop a range of menus and materials to delight pupils as they learn, linking food to the curriculum and school activities.
Kitchen standards
90% of the schools we support have achieved a Food Hygiene Rating of 5 – thanks to our robust kitchen management practices.
Staff support
All of our kitchen-based staff firmly belong to the SIPS family and are encouraged to share their ideas and successes. We support and invest in our workforce to enable them to undertake their roles to our exacting standards - all receive face-to-face training and one-to-one support as part of our ongoing CPD process.
Account management
You can expect to see your Area Manager in school on a regular basis, both in the kitchen and meeting with Leadership to discuss contract performance and service development. We are always committed to building and maintaining strong and open relationships in order to provide continuing excellence.
Flexible approach
Whether as part of a full tender process, or as a proposal for an individual school – we’d love to meet up to discuss your catering requirements in more detail.
