Catering Manager
Fernwood School, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG8 2FT17 days remaining to apply
Start date details
Janurary 2027
Closing date
23 November 2026 at 9am
Date listed
6 November 2026
Job details
Job role
- Catering, cleaning and site management
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full time equivalent salary
- £31,052.00 - £34,441.00 Annually (FTE)
Catering Manager job summary
Are you a passionate catering professional who wants to make a real difference to young people's lives every day?
Fernwood School is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Catering Manager to lead our busy catering operation, serving over 800 nutritious meals daily to our community of 1,536 pupils aged 11-16. This is more than just a catering role, you'll be at the heart of our school community, promoting healthy eating, supporting pupil wellbeing, and leading a dedicated team of 10 catering staff to deliver an exceptional food service.
The successful candidate will work Monday to Friday 7.00am - 3.00pm
What You'll Be Doing:
Leading our catering service - managing all aspects from menu planning to service delivery.
Creating innovative, nutritious menus that comply with School Food Standards and meet diverse dietary needs.
Managing a committed team - supervising, developing and motivating an Assistant Catering Manager and 9 Kitchen Assistants.
Ensuring excellence in food safety - maintaining the highest standards of hygiene and allergen management.
Driving sustainability - sourcing local, seasonal ingredients and minimising food waste in line with our Environment and Sustainability Policy.
Managing the budget - ensuring financial efficiency while delivering quality and value.
Building relationships - engaging with pupils, staff, and parents to continuously improve our service.
Who we are looking for:
We are looking for an experienced and organised catering professional who is passionate about providing high-quality, nutritious meals for pupils. The successful candidate will have strong leadership skills, a sound understanding of food safety and allergen management, and the ability to manage a busy catering operation efficiently. Above all, they will be committed to maintaining high standards, promoting healthy eating, and delivering an excellent dining experience for our school community.
About The Fernwood School
Following a recent expansion from 1000 to 1500 pupils, with staffing growing to over 200 colleagues across teaching and support roles, we continue to strengthen our infrastructure to support both pupils and staff to succeed. We are an oversubscribed and popular 11-16 school within Nottingham City and had over 800 applications for our 300 places this year.
We are a proudly diverse school and have children with heritage from all corners of the world. We celebrate our different cultures through our curriculum and special events like ‘Culture Day’ and ‘Diversity Week’ and have our own EDI (Equity Diversity and Inclusion working party) made up of parents, staff and our EDI student ambassadors. We welcome applications from people who will embrace the diversity of our school community.
In our annual staff survey, the most common response to what staff value most about working at Fernwood was ‘being part of a welcoming staff body who look out for and support each other’. The vast majority of staff would recommend working here to a friend, and all staff agreed that children are ‘happy’ and ‘safe’ at Fernwood. Our unique culture and ethos mean we have strong staff retention statistics and a stable team of staff. We are a popular employer to potential applicants and have a strong track record of attracting and retaining high-quality staff.
We value and prioritise our staff and have a comprehensive programme of support, both in terms of professional development and personal support. All staff have access to our comprehensive EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) which includes benefits like free physiotherapy appointments, telephone GP access, counselling and financial advice to name a few. We have several staff social groups including an LGBTQ+ group, a theatre group, and staff yoga. We also have several staff social events each year. We are part of the ‘cycle to work’ scheme and provide staff with free flu jabs and eye tests and a voucher for purchasing glasses for staff using display screens.
We are an open school and are always keen to work with other organisations and networks as we believe in community and sharing support and expertise. We are currently supporting another local secondary school through the RISE (DfE) programme and have strong working relationships with both of our local universities too. We are an ambitious school and are continually developing and improving our provision and approaches to ensure we can provide our children with the best education possible.
By joining our School, we can offer you:
Professional Development & Excellence
An ethos of ‘High Achievement with Care and Discipline for All’
Excellent CPD Opportunities
An Outstanding Ofsted Judgement
A strong Progress 8 score
Leading Edge Status
Wellbeing & Support
Mental health and wellbeing services such as access to a 24/7 confidential employee assistance programme
Healthcare schemes such as Specsavers Eyecare vouchers for DSE users
Cycle to Work Scheme
Financial Benefits
Incremental Pay Progression
Generous Occupational Pension Scheme
Blue Light Card
The Fernwood School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Therefore, this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.
An online search will be undertaken on all shortlisted candidates. This search does not form part of the shortlisting process, and you will have the opportunity to discuss any issues of concern that may arise from this search at the interview.
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Any information found to be misleading or not representative of the applicant's own abilities may affect the outcome of the application.
Equality Statement
Fernwood School is a richly diverse and inclusive community where equality, respect and belonging are at the heart of our values. We are committed to creating a workforce that reflects the diversity of our students and wider community, and we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. We value the different perspectives, skills and qualities that staff bring to our school and are committed to providing an inclusive working environment where everyone is supported to thrive and succeed.
School Visits
We warmly welcome prospective applicants to visit our school prior to submitting an application. A visit will give you the chance to experience our ethos first-hand, meet our dedicated team, and see our learning environment in action. To arrange a visit, please do not hesitate to contact recruitment@fernwood.school
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Applying for the job
This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on external website (opens in new tab)About Fernwood School
- Organisation type
- Academy, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- Size
- 1543 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- Website
- Fernwood School website
School location
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