Preparing for a safe return to school in September

 Dear Parent/Guardian

We do not underestimate the anxiety you may be feeling about the return to school in September. As your school meal provider, we’ve developed a back to school plan to make sure our teams have the right tools, information and best practice guidance to re-open our catering services safely. 

The health, safety and wellbeing of the children we serve, our staff and of the schools we work with has been Sodexo’s number one priority throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

We have been at the front line of the COVID-19 response since it first emerged in China. We’ve shared our learnings and collaborated with your school’s leadership team to carefully plan how we will rise to the challenge of delivering school meals in the ‘new normal’ by implementing the following re-opening initiatives:

1.     Conducted a re-opening risk assessment. 

2.     Agreed a local plan together with school management.

3.     Delivered COVID-19 mandatory safety training for your school team. 

4.     Increased hygiene measures such as; Providing additional personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff, enhancing handwashing procedures and implementing extra preventative cleaning regimes.

5.     Maintaining social distancing in the kitchen, servery and food collection areas in accordance with Public Health England guidelines.

6.    Meals will be freshly prepared and where agreed with the school served pre-packed (some on plates) with disposable cutlery. All snack items will be individually wrapped – wherever possible all packaging is environmentally friendly. 

7.     Removed self-service food counters (e.g. salad bars) to reduce the risk of contamination

8.     Worked with schools to plan how children will receive their school meal without mixing with those outside their bubble e.g. staggered service times, delivery of meals to the classroom.

9.     Set up regular briefings for our teams to provide them with COVID-19 Government and company updates to ensure continued compliance with the latest safety advice. 

We are committed to supporting the Government and your school to get children back to the classroom safely in September. It is the best place for them to learn and develop, and it is undisputed that healthy school meals aid pupils’ health and learning outcomes. 

By sharing these plans, we hope to give you and your children confidence and reassurance in our school meal service. However, should you have any questions or concerns please contact your school and ask to speak to your school catering team.

Stay safe.  

Matthew Garner  

Managing Director, Government Schools

 

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