Nursery Chef

Family First; Arlesey; On-site; GBP 11,000 - 14,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 24 days + bank holidays +

Childcare discount

Wellbeing support

Training and development

Company pension

Employee discounts

Mentoring

Refer a Friend bonus

Job summary

Acre Wood Day Nursery in Arlesey, United Kingdom, is seeking a committed Kitchen Chef to join the kitchen team. The role is 25 hours per week, with shifts from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, Monday to Friday, year-round.

You will prepare nutritious meals for children, maintain high hygiene standards, manage dietary requirements, and help control food costs. A Disclosure and Barring Service check is required, and Acre Wood is part of the Family First Group, offering benefits and development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Able to manage dietary requirements and food allergies
• COSHH knowledge and safe handling
• Able to work within a catering budget
• Cooking experience for children preferred
• English written and spoken to GCSE C level

Responsibilities

• Prepare nutritious, age-appropriate meals daily with minimal waste
• Maintain cleanliness and hygiene in kitchen and nursery
• Communicate dietary requirements to teams and parents
• Plan orders to meet budgeted food costs

Skills

Dietary requirements management

COSHH knowledge

Budget-conscious cooking

Childcare cooking experience

English fluency

Education

GCSE English or equivalent

Job description

Arlesey, United Kingdom | Posted on 28/07/2026

Hours: 25 hours per week, 9.00am-2.00pm Monday- Friday

Acre Wood Day Nursery is on the lookout for a committed and enthusiastic Kitchen Chef to become apart of the kitchen team. The ideal candidate will support in preparing nutritious meals for children and will gain valuable experience in food preparation, kitchen operations, and hygiene standards.

We are currently seeking a Nursery Chef to join our team. This full-time role offers 25 hours per week, with flexible shift patterns between 9:00 AM and 14:00 PM. Please note that this is a full-year position, as the nursery operates year-round, and is not term-time only.

As Nursery Chef, you will:

• Keep the kitchen a clean and safe environment, adhering to internal and external requirements; complete the Kitchen Hygiene Checklist each month, and ensure that the Cleaning Schedule is complete and adhered to, being regularly updated and displayed prominently in the kitchen
• Ensure the highest levels of cleanliness and hygiene in the nursery and kitchen
• The nursery staff will tell you each day of the numbers to cater for; prepare and cook enough age-appropriate food (cooked as near to the point of service as possible) for all the children on a daily basis, with minimum wastage
• Take responsibility to make sure all dietary requirements are catered for and clearly communicated to the teams
• Ensure that dietary requirements and personal care routines are adhered to at all times, including the robust measures around the Red, Amber and Green plate procedures
• Work in co-operation and partnership with the Nursery team and parents to encourage a healthy and nutritious diet
• Ensure that budgetary requirements are met through careful planning of all food orders

Requirements

• Ableto demonstrate a sound knowledge of managing different dietaryrequirements around food allergies - essential
• SoundKnowledge of COSHH - essential
• Ableto work to a catering budget, in a manner that avoids fluctuatingstandards of food service - essential
• Experienceand qualified to the appropriate level in any role which involves cookingin domestic or commercial property - essential
• Fluentin written and spoken English at GCSE grade C (or equivalent) - essential
• Experiencedand passionate about any role that involves cooking for young children –desirable

Why Join Us?

• Annual leave: 24 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and an extra paid day off for your birthday
• Childcare discount: 75% off nursery fees for team members
• Wellbeing support: Access to a confidential Employee Assistance Programme helpline
• Learning and development: Tailored training and development opportunities to support your career growth
• Pension: Company pension scheme
• Employee discounts: Access to Perkaboo employee discounts
• Mentoring: Employee mentoring programme
• Health and wellbeing: Dedicated health and wellbeing support
• Refer a Friend scheme: Earn up to £750 through our referral programme

We are committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. A Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate will be required for all posts. This post will be subject to enhanced checks as part of our Safeguarding Duty.

Acre wood Nursery is part of the Family First Group where we take great care to treat everyone as a person, with equal rights and responsibilities to any other individual, whether they are an adult or a child. We are committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families according to their individual needs. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin, or political belief has no place within the Family First Group.