Kitchen Assistant

St George's Junior School; Shrewsbury; On-site; GBP 15,000 - 21,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Eye care scheme

Annual leave allowance

Free on-site parking

In-house catering

Financial wellbeing support

Discounts for teachers

Job summary

St George’s Junior School is seeking a Kitchen Assistant to join the school kitchen team. The role is 8.75 hours per week, Monday to Friday, 12:00–13:45, term time plus three days, with a permanent contract. The hourly rate is £13.28 and the post requires DBS checks and safeguarding compliance.

You will work with the Cook in Charge to ensure meals are prepared and served to high standards while maintaining food safety, hygiene, and efficient service throughout the day.

Qualifications

• Food safety and hygiene awareness.
• Ability to work as part of a kitchen team.
• Commitment to high standards of meal presentation.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and present school meals to high standards in line with safety regulations.
• Serve and clear areas to maintain a clean environment.
• Wash up crockery and utensils and keep the kitchen tidy.
• Assist in cleaning catering equipment as directed by the Cook in Charge.
• Support children to choose a healthy, balanced diet and stay within guidelines.

Skills

Food safety

Hygiene

Teamwork

Customer service

Job description

Kitchen Assistant

Recruitment Pack

The Offer at Empower Trust

Mission: ‘Inspire, Empower and Achieve - a commitment to excellence’

Vision: ‘To create a home for world class learning that improves the lives of each child in our family of schools.’

Our Vision and Mission statements are underpinned by our Trust Values:

Working for Empower Trust is rewarding in lots of ways. We value and appreciate our people and recognise our staff are instrumental to the success of the Trust. We therefore offer a wide range of exciting and useful benefits to all our employees:

Career Progression and Staff Development

We are committed to developing our staff and to providing opportunities for growth. We want to encourage the career progression of our employees wherever possible, and support staff who wish to move between our schools and the Central Team when suitable roles arise. We also offer secondment opportunities when available.

At Empower Trust you would be working alongside excellent leaders in education, each with specific areas of expertise. We offer Middle and Senior Leadership development programmes, professional support networks and career development pathways for staff at all levels. In addition, we also have mentoring and coaching programmes, peer learning, internal and external CPD opportunities.

Health and Wellbeing Services

• A Trust Wellbeing Strategy and Charter outlining our commitment to staff wellbeing
• At least one trained Mental Health First Aider in every location, helping to embed our belief that physical and mental health hold equal importance
• A network of Mental Health First Aiders and Mental Health Leads who provide support, guidance, and signposting to colleagues across the Trust
• A Future in Mind network representing all our academies, who signpost staff to wellbeing support and information, and ensure staff voice is heard
• A designated Trustee sponsor whose role is to ensure staff wellbeing remains a priority
• Wellbeing is a discussion item on each Trustee / Local Governing Body meeting agenda
• Dissemination of annual staff wellbeing questionnaires to inform future actions
• Active engagement in national and international awareness days
• Working towards the Mental Health at Work Commitment and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter

Employee Assistance Programme

• Physiotherapy and musculoskeletal (MSK) services
• Confidential counselling via face-to-face therapy or secure online video sessions
• Stress coaching
• Support services for menopause, long covid, bereavement, cancer, cardiac conditions, lung conditions, medical trauma, mental health problems, motor neurone disease, orthopaedic conditions, multiple sclerosis
• 24/7 GP helpline and prescription service, offering consultation, private prescriptions, open referrals, and fit notes
• Surgical assistance programme

Flexible and Family-Friendly Policies

Our employment policies are flexible and responsive to promote diversity and equality, as well as attract and retain the highest quality workforce. We offer flexible working opportunities; job share arrangements, term time working and part time-roles; generous family leave packages; and compassionate or emergency leave.

Pension Scheme

We offer an excellent pension scheme with either the Local Government Pension Scheme (support staff) or the Teachers’ Pension Scheme which include death in service benefits. As well as employee’s paying contributions into the scheme (banded, based on earnings level) Empower Trust also pays a generous contribution on your behalf.

Cycle to Work Scheme

Save on the cost of the commute, promote a healthy lifestyle, and reduce your carbon footprint - all with our superb cycle to work scheme! Find the bike of your dreams and save up to 42% in tax and NI contributions. Whether it’s a mountain bike, BMX, fixie, electric cycle, or one of those natty bikes with a basket on the front, get the wheels you really want; all at an affordable cost spread over 12 to 18 months.

Other Benefits

• Eye care scheme
• Attractive annual leave allowance
• Free on-site parking
• In-house catering
• Financial wellbeing support
• Discounts for teachers - https://www.discountsforteachers.co.uk/

The Opportunity at St George’s Junior School

Position: Kitchen Assistant - 8.75 hours per week

Monday to Friday - 12 to 13.45 each day Term time plus 3 days

Terms: Permanent

Start Date: Autumn Term

Salary: £13.28/hour

Closing Date: tbc

Interview Date: tbc

Website: www.stgeorgesjunior.org.uk

Address: St George’s Junior School, Woodfield Road, Shrewsbury, SY3 8LU

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

St George’s Junior School and Empower Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The post is subject to enhanced DBS clearance and other safeguarding checks. If shortlisted, you will be subject to an online search.

Criminal Convictions

The amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020) provides that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’. This means that they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account.

Should you be shortlisted for interview you will be asked to declare on a separate form whether you have any convictions or cautions that are not “protected” in line with this legislation. Further information on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Online Checks

In line with the Statutory Guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, an online check will be undertaken for all shortlisted candidates prior to the interview.

Someone who is not on the interview panel will undertake this search and only share information obtained with the panel should this have potential implications around your suitability to work with children.

The panel may ask you specific questions about any information obtained via this online search if appropriate.

All information given/obtained will be treated as strictly confidential and will be stored securely.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Working with the Cook in Charge and the rest of the kitchen team, the Kitchen Assistant will be responsible for the following areas of work:

• Preparation and presentation and serving of school meals to the highest standards compliant with food safety regulations.
• Serving and clearing the food areas to exceptionally high standards
• Washing up crockery and utensils after service to an exceptionally high standard
• Actively involved in the cleaning of the catering equipment on a daily and weekly basis as directed by the Cook in Charge in accordance with the school kitchen’s cleaning rotas.
• Be confident in dealing with concerns as they arise and taking corrective action if necessary.
• Actively encourage the children to enjoy a well-balanced diet and make sensible choices.
• Be confident in the use of appropriate equipment.
• The post holder must be willing to undertake any training relevant to the post, i.e., foundation hygiene certificate/health and safety certificate/other CPD as appropriate for the school.