A £1.4 million refurbishment programme at one of the region’s leading independent schools has been completed all in the name of good taste.
Fylde Coast co-educational, Rossall School has invested heavily in new facilities on its Fleetwood campus to accommodate the growing number of new pupils wishing to register. A major slice of the redevelopment cost has been ploughed into improvements in Rossall’s catering provision, which has resulted in a brand new state-of-the-art kitchen facility and food service area in the School’s imposing dining hall.
A total of £0.5 million has been injected into catering and £0.9 million in refurbishment of existing buildings to improve standards overall, whilst providing additional student accommodation, shower and toilet facilities, together with day rooms and prep areas to increase the school’s capacity. The new kitchen development has provided a facility to rival those found in some of London’s top hotels and has been designed with an emphasis on technology to speed up processes, improve quality, offer greater menu choice and improve kitchen safety by removing the need for open pans with hot oil.
Together with new food prep and storage, the School has invested heavily in a range of new tiered digital combination ovens, which enable cooking of multiple menus in one. The ovens dispense with the need for frying equipment and recreate authentically fried dishes, such as a traditional English breakfast with almost no need for oil or fat. The ‘intelligent’ combination ovens can cook, for example, all the ingredients for a breakfast in one programme, with individual components cooking on different shelves simultaneously, at different temperatures and timings to ensure that all parts of the dish are ready for service at exactly the same time. As a result of the versatility of the space-saving equipment, there is also less need for bulky oven hobs on a commercial scale, thus enabling more space to be devoted to storage and work surfaces.
The School, whose catering is in operation seven days a week, uses a staggering, 62,000 pints of milk, 27,000 pounds of meat and 125,000 eggs per year as it serves around 1,500 freshly cooked meals each day for staff, boarding and day pupils. It now boasts a more varied menu, with international influences to reflect the global nature of the campus. Pupils have more choice and a greater number of healthy eating options for children ranging in age from two to eighteen-years-old.
Commenting on the latest phase of development, which brings the total investment on campus in the last two years to around £2 million, Rossall’s headmaster, Dr Stephen Winkley said: “Ongoing investment on a campus of 160 acres is an essential fact of life, but the refurbishment of older areas of the school and the injection of new, improved facilities, have been carefully thought out to give our pupils a much better environment in which to learn and develop.
“Our catering facility is now as sophisticated as many of Britain’s top hotel and banqueting centres. The quality of food is important at all schools, but none more so than at a busy day and boarding establishment, where we have a permanent population relying on our kitchens for three meals a day. In many ways it’s the engine room of the school, so our investment is well placed.
“This latest round of investment is testament to what can be achieved at a wholly independent school with good governance and a well- managed financial strategy, and it’s the sign of a healthy school with increasing pupil numbers.”