School Catering assistant job?

[ItsCagain]

I have heard mixed reviews about this. i’m considering it as it would fit it well with family life but heard a few negative take on it?
Any pros or cons?

A lot of school catering is outsourced to private companies so you may find that you won't get some of the benefits - eg local government pension, salary increases etc

I have heard that some are quite toxic environments but the catering team at our school are absolutely lovely.

I agree with @SiblingFights My school changed from in house to an outside company, their workload has doubled and the company doesn't bring in temps when anyone is off for long absences (i.e. when someone is recovering from a planned operation etc so the company knew in advance.)
The variety of food has shrunk substantially and the quality sucks.
As for the petty cliques, that was there before the swap.

Thank you. i was more interested in experience of the actual role such as how physically demanding it is and how much time we get to spend with children.
The role im offered is through the council not a third party.

The catering assistants at my school spend very little time with the children, but somehow they still seem to have amazing knowledge about each child’s dietary requirements and preferences. They have to set out and put away tables and chairs before and after lunch, but I wouldn’t say that’s very physically demanding. Catering assistants are involved with the food preparation and serving and have to have basic hygiene qualifications whereas mid day supervisors spend more time with the children both in the dining room and in the playground after they’ve had lunch, but it might depend on how your LA names each of the jobs as to what you’d actually be doing. Check the job description.

Secondary school it will be minimal contact, you will just see a surge of kids heading your way to grab their food, scan their fingerprint and go.

I only worked briefly in a primary and there it was purely food service, there were TAs to supervise the children.

A mid-day supervisor might be a better option if you like working with children, whereas catering assistant will be food prep, serve and clean up after.

How many hours per day is it? Is it 5 days per week?

If it is only 1-2 hours per day and you might need to earn more, I'd think very carefully, as it is difficult to fit other work in around it.

Also a pain if you do school drop offs and pick ups as every day will centre around it, with little time to get other things done such as appointments, groceries, visiting elderly parents. ie Get back from school run at 9am, out to work at 11am for 11:30-1:30 shift, home at 2pm to change clothes, leave for school run at 2:45.

In other ways it can work very well, especially if you have no transport costs.

I've worked for both the school (supervising children) and for a catering company at the school in the kitchen. The latter was more physically demanding.

Thanks for your reply it’s a primary school role 18hrs a week so would be around 3hrs a day which would fit it well with my day and kids etc drop off. The midday supervisor jobs are only generally around 8 hrs a week that’s why i’m considering the catering job. it’s through the council

I actually have TA qualification but it’s hard to find a 3-4hrs ta jobs that’a not child specific plus it would require me to find child care either in the morning or in the afternoon as they tend to be 8 30-3 30 at least

Sounds like it would work well for you, in that case 😀. You would also be well positioned for any adhoc TA work they might have as overtime. I did a few hours here and there in my school as last-minute TA cover, but didn't apply for a permanent role due to childcare needed for the timing overlap.

Is it the school that your children attend? Mine was, and I lived a 2 minute walk away, so I could be available during school hours. Most of us had children in the school, apart from one colleague who intentionally wanted to work in a separate school from her children.

What negatives are you concerned about?

no this would not be my kids school but suits me better.
I was told staff can be pretty overworked and often i’ll have to work overtime and leave later but no extra pay plus it being quite noisy overall due to appliances which i would dislike.
it would be great to have a look around before hand as not had a chance and interview was online