The Complete Guide to Packed Lunch Policy
I remember standing in a primary school dining hall three years ago, watching a frantic midday supervisor try to manage…
Author: Ottoline Achebe-Kirkwood
Almost every serious food safety incident I have investigated was preventable by something small and boring that nobody had time for. I write about the controls that actually reduce risk — allergen communication, temperature discipline, cleaning that follows a sequence — and I am honest that a kitchen serving four hundred meals on limited staffing cannot do everything. Tell me what you can realistically sustain, and I will tell you where to put it.
The Complete Guide to Breakfast Clubs
I’ve sat in enough drafty school staff rooms to know that when people talk about a “complete guide to breakfast…
Lifting Stock Pots and Delivery Crates
I once walked into a school kitchen during the mid-morning rush, the air thick with the smell of toasted bread…
The Defence That Only Exists on Paper
I remember standing in a school kitchen three years ago, the air thick with the smell of overboiled pasta and…
Recognising Hunger Without Embarrassing Anyone
I remember standing in a secondary school kitchen three years ago, the steam from a massive vat of pasta hitting…
Building a Rota That Survives Absence
I’ve sat in too many cramped school kitchens during a mid-morning rush to believe the nonsense that you need a…
Assessing the Chemicals You Already Use
I’ve sat in enough cramped, humid school kitchens to know that the moment I pull out a folder titled “Chemical…
Records That Prove You Did the Thing
I’ve spent sixteen years walking into kitchens where the first thing I do isn’t looking at the prep stations, but…
The First Week for a New Kitchen Assistant
I’ve sat in enough damp, echoing school kitchens to know that the moment you hand a new hire a fifty-page…
Provision During the School Holidays
I remember standing in a primary school kitchen three years ago, watching a frantic midday service where the sheer volume…