PKL Celebrates 25 Years with School Food Survey

As part of PKL’s 25th anniversary we are launching a ’25 on 25’ survey to find out more about school lunches from the past, present and future, and will be studying the potential impact this will have on schools who are currently investing in new equipment.

We’re asking people who were in primary school in 1989 to take our survey about school lunches from 1989 to find out how school meals have evolved over the past 25 years. So if you would like to be a part of this pioneering study you can take our short survey at: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8CY5P3V
 
As part of our survey we will be visiting groups of today’s primary school children to compare what they like and loathe about their school lunches. We’ll also be talking to leading school meals experts to gather opinions on the school food of today, 25 years ago and gain an understanding of what the school food environment might look like 25 years from now.

For schools who are working to implement the School Food Plan, we’ll be sharing insight into what pressure these changes in school food services will put on the school kitchen of 2039 and the implications involved.
 
We look forward to sharing our findings with you in the new year. Until then, you might find it useful to visit our SchoolKitchens.com website, or why not take a look at our 8 Point Plan for Schools that outlines a number of school food catering solutions for 2013 and beyond.

10 benefits of adding extra servery space in schools

I specialise in providing permanent kitchen and servery solutions for schools to help tackle a number of issues surrounding their food provision. Here's a list of my top 10 benefits of adding extra servery space in schools, based on my experience of providing PKL Food Cubes to schools across the country. I've backed it up with some info and quotes from the three most recent Food Cube projects I've worked on - enjoy!

1. Reduce queue times
Adding an additional servery area can significantly reduce queueing times. By making it quicker and easier for pupils to buy food, more are encouraged to do so.

When I was involved in our Food Cube project at Oasis Academy near Bristol, their primary reason for wanting a Cube was to reduce queues. "We manage facilities in over 30 schools now. Our experience was that some were struggling to manage the queues and pupils don't like waiting when they are hungry. We wanted to find a way to speed up the serving process and give pupils what they wanted with minimum fuss." Neil Porter of BAM FM told us.

At Cucina's Food Cube at Bexley Business Academy, my client Tony Ridgewell, the food and beverage manager, told me, "It’s playing a strong role in helping to reduce queues at key times". 

2. Ease pressure on the main dining hall
By locating an extra servery space elsewhere in the school grounds, it eases congestion in the main dining hall and makes it easier for pupils to buy food quickly and efficiently without creating a bottleneck.

"I think it's great that it has completely taken away the congestion in the main dining hall. The students seem to purchase more than before, as they are passing by the location of the Cube and not having to come back inside to purchase their goods." Lucy Horsman, the Kitchen Manager at Oasis Academy told us.

3. Improve stay on site
Many of my clients have come to me with concerns over pupils leaving site during breaks and making use of local takeaways. By adding an additional serving area within school grounds and making it quicker and more convenient to grab food at school, pupils are less likely to want to leave site. 

Following the Food Cube installation for Cucina at Bexley Business Academy, client Tony Ridgewell told me, "It is encouraging pupils to stay on site rather than leave the school at lunchtime".

4. Increase choice of food
Increasing servery space not only enables schools to sell more food, but also to offer a wider variety of foods. In my experience, being able to offer a wider choice of foods is a key factor in making school meals appeal to a larger number of pupils, and therefore increase sales.

Many schools I've worked with have used our Food Cubes to serve fresh sandwiches, wraps, paninis, hot pasta, bakery products, fruit and drinks, complementing the other meal offerings available in the main dining hall.

5. Increase catering revenue
Our Food Cubes have been proven to significantly increase catering revenue in all schools where they have been installed. With smaller queues, an additional location to buy from, and more choice, school food becomes a much more appealing option for pupils, resulting in more pupils buying food, and more food being purchased by those who do.

At Marden High School, our Food Cube resulted in a 48% rise in food sales, while at Cucina's Food Cube at Bexley Business Academy, the Cube has generated over £500 extra revenue per week.

Barbara Patterson, Catering Services Manager at North Tyneside Council, said of our Food Cube at Marden High School, "It has really helped to improve service, increase income and reduce queuing time for students."

6. Encourage more pupils to have school meals
By making school meals a quicker and easier option, the installation of additional servery space encourages more pupils to buy food at school.

At Oasis Academy near Bristol, 30% of pupils now prefer to use the Food Cube, and school meal uptake has drastically increased. Pupil feedback was positive, with one saying "It's very convenient for us to buy our sandwiches especially when we are outside in the summer playing football."

7. Raise the profile of the school catering service
Installing an additional servery unit elsewhere in the school grounds makes the catering service visible to pupils who may normally avoid the dining hall. Locating an extra servery out in the playground or yard has been particularly successful at raising the profile and visibility of the catering service in projects I've overseen. The resulting increased usage of catering facilities in turn gets pupils talking about the food and drink offering and creates a real buzz within the school.

At Oasis Academy, Neil Porter told us that having a bright-coloured servery unit out in the playground is encouraging more pupils to use the catering service. He said, "It's a little bit novel. Children seem to like that."

8. Improve pupils' health and concentration
One of the issues I've come across time and again is the struggle to get pupils eating more healthily. By supporting stay on site policies, additional servery areas can enable schools to offer a wider choice of nutritious food and help get pupils eating better at school. This can have a direct influence on behaviour and concentration levels in the classroom.

9. Improved working environment for catering staff
Extra servery space means fewer queues, calmer, happier customers, and therefore a nicer, less stressful working environment for catering staff.

10. Benefits for teaching and support staff
We've had great feedback from teaching and support staff as well as pupils and catering staff. They've found that additional servery space benefits them too, including a teacher at Oasis Academy who told us, "It's great that I can buy my lunch whilst keeping an eye on the students when on lunchtime duty."

PKL Food Cubes – Creating a Positive Legacy

The image of modular buildings in schools has long been overshadowed by a legacy of slowly decaying classrooms and buildings no longer fit for purpose. But things have moved on a great deal in the world of modular construction as  Lee Vines, sales and marketing director at PKL, guest blogs to explain why.

Lee Vines, Sales and Marketing
Director at PKL

"PKL Food Cubes can be used not only to provide relief to busy dining areas in schools or provide additional catering facilities where pupil intake has risen sharply, but they can also be used to help create a positive legacy.

Our Food Cubes are supplied with a 15-year structural warranty, meaning they are built to last and are fit for purpose and unlike a GRP (glass reinforced plastic) or wooden construction, they can be used comfortably all year around.  Food Cubes are manufactured with a structural steel frame and fully insulated, fire rated and vandal resistant walls means that they easily comply with the latest building regulations. 

We advise extreme consideration before procuring something with a lower specification, which might not have the staying power of a compliant modular building and could end up costing more in the long term, or become unusable during certain times of the year.

One of the most important aspects of a Food Cube, is that they can begin to create a positive legacy at a school with almost an immediate effect. Constructed, delivered and installed in just six weeks, PKL Food Cubes have seen a variety of uses including to introduce a healthier school menu and  to ease pressure on existing dining facilities.  In the vast majority of cases where  Food Cubes have been introduced we have witnessed an uptake in school meals almost immediately.  This means fewer pupils going off site at lunchtimes and revenues  gained from catering are increasing, in some cases quite substantially.

PKL Food Cubes. Modular servery buildings for hire or sale.

Another major benefit of the Food Cube is that although a semi-permanent building, it is entirely relocatable, meaning that if for any reason the catering requirement reduces, or the school is closed, it is a simple task to move it to another school. 

We have also worked hard on exterior appearance and can now supply modular buildings with a wide range of wood cladding, brick slips, painted or vinyl wrap exteriors, meaning that each customer has full control over the final look and feel of the building.

I think that we have taken great steps to throw off the shackles of previous perceptions of modular and prefabricated buildings and are providing something which is not only great value, but will provide genuine longevity in terms of how long the buildings will last and for the positive effects that they can create."

LACA / PKL School Kitchens Design Forum – London South Bank Centre

The latest LACA/PKL School Kitchen Design forum, held in London in February, addressed key issues relating to provision of school meals and associated facilities. Sponsored by PKL and the Local Authority Caterers Association, the event was attended by around 50 delegates representing local authorities, consultants and other stakeholders.

LACA Chair Beverly Baker opened the proceedings with a focus on the importance of school meals and associated facilities – in the context of the changing educational environment and the higher profile of nutrition amongst young people.

Continuing this theme, Liz Randall from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) explored the proposed amendments to regulations governing dining space and nutritional standards in school premises. It was clear from this presentation that improved facilities for both the preparation and consumption of food will play an even more important role in the future.

Factors influencing the take-up of school meals was the theme of a presentation by Linda Smith of the School Food Trust, who presented the findings of the School Lunch & Learning Behaviour Study. This study showed quite clearly that improving the dining room environment could play a pivotal role in increasing the acceptability of school meals to pupils.

The focus of the day then switched to the design and delivery of school kitchens. Robert Danks of Food Chain Solutions outlined a recent case study with Northamptonshire County Council, rolling out their “Hot Meal” plan in schools. Paul Saer of Buying Solutions followed, providing an overview of the Buying Solutions agency and John Robinson from PKL finished the first session with a presentation on PKL Group’s school kitchen solutions, including a number of case study examples.

After a lively question and answer session, delegates were then asked to work in groups to produce brief presentations for fellow delegates, covering their own successes and difficult situations in relation to planning kitchens and learning from operational use

Successes included training, marketing school meals and the use of regeneration kitchens. Areas of difficulty included the BB99 regulations, failure of architects, planners and contractors to listen to the people who will be running the facilities and a lack of understanding by head teachers. Funding for improving facilities was also perceived as a barrier to taking plans forward.

Following this interactive session the forum concluded with a presentation from Vic Laws of AVL Consulting, presenting the findings of a recent study into energy efficiency in school kitchens.

More information:

www.pkl.co.uk
www.schoolkitchens.com

PKL Hold Successful School Kitchens Forum

The London School Kitchens Forum in July, organised jointly by PKL and the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA), addressed a number of key issues facing catering in schools.

Delegates included catering and facilities management specialists from a number of local authorities, as well as representatives from associations and central government.

A key focus of the day was to consider the opportunities to improve catering facilities within the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Primary Capital Programme initiatives, stimulating lively discussions between speakers and delegates.

Speakers included LACA Chair Berverley Baker, A partner from EC Harris and representatives from the School Food Trust. To read more on the outcomes of the Forum, and to register your interest for the Next PKL School Kitchens Forum, please vist the link below:

http://www.schoolkitchens.com/school-kitchen-forum.php

School Kitchen Solutions from PKL

PKL provide a wide range of solutions for the education sector with products ranging from complete school kitchen buildings to catering equipment. Over the next few weeks, our Blog will inform you of the range of kitchens for schools and catering equipment available from PKL.

Our products are specified for a wide range of requirements including a complete new kitchen, temporary kitchens for times of refurbishment and catering equipment for the education sector.

We have worked hand in hand with schools and local authorities over the last 20 years to provide a wide range of kitchen and catering solutions for schools, colleges and universities. Projects within the last year include:

Powys Council – 3 separate kitchens for schools
Croydon Council – 2 permanent modular school kitchens
Cardiff Council – Temporary and permanent facilities on 3 schools sites
High Storrs Comprehensive – Temporary Kitchen for BSF refurbishment

PKL are a Buying solutions accredited supplier, meaning local authorities and schools can procure products and benefit from cost savings leveraged from using a national government procurement organisation. This is turn helps local authorities meet spending targets set by the Government.

The use of Buying Solutions also means that users are fully compliant with UK and European procurement legislation.

For further information on procuring products and services through the Buying Solutions Frameworks, contact the Buying Solutions Service Desk on 0845 410 2222, or email custcare@ogcbs.gsi.gov.uk