Nursery Cook

We are a group of nurseries based in East London. We are currently looking for a part-time cook for one of our nurseries based in East London

In summary, your job will be to cook lunch and prepare tea, do the dishes, clean and tidy the kitchen, and support the other staff with cleaning the kitchen.

The hours will be from 8:30am to 15:30pm, from Monday to Friday. The position is to start as soon as possible.

Responsibilities and Duties

To plan, prepare and cook nutritious and balanced food to meet the needs of the children, ensuring that all legal, safety and individual requirements are met.

MAIN DUTIES:

To provide fresh, nutritious and well presented meals, suitable for children and babies, under the age of five, according to the current menus

To maintain a high standard of hygiene at all times and to follow infection / cross contamination control procedures.

To contribute ideas to menu planning ensuring the children receive a healthy nutritionally balanced,multi-cultural diet.

To maintain a safe, clean and healthy kitchen environment including the washing of all dishes

Promote healthy eating using a seed to plate process

To liaise with nursery staff regarding children’s specific dietary requirements, constantly be aware of food allergies, food intolerance, cultural needs, vegetarian requirements and any other, according to the Special Dietary Needs form in the kitchen.

To follow standard food hygiene procedures (e.g. food temperature checks and monitoring; recording this daily).

To regulate kitchen stock control and collate food purchasing orders as appropriate.

To meet health and safety and environmental health requirements at all times.

To attend any training events or staff/team meetings as identified by the Nursery Manager.

To ensure adherence to nursery’s code of practice on confidentiality.

To keep up to date with current good practice.

To perform any other duties as deemed necessary by the Nursery Manager or Deputy Manager in his/her absence.

To be aware of and carry out duties in connection with Health and Safety at work (e.g. Risk Assessments, COSHH, RIDDOR etc) and to update and manage the Safer Food, Better Business file daily.

To be familiar with procedures carried out in case of an accident / fire.

To prepare a healthy morning snack for each of the nursery rooms, as required

To prepare a nutritious cooked lunch in line with the current menu, ensuring all children’s needs are met and to include suitable puréed food for babies.

To prepare afternoon tea in line with the current menu.

To ensure a small supply of suitable frozen meals are always available in the freezer, for emergency use.

To ensure all areas of the kitchen are hygienically maintained at all times, in accordance with Health & Safety Regulations..

To ensure that equipment and materials (including the dishwasher, microwave, oven, fridges and freezers) are cleaned and everything is cleared away leaving the kitchen is neat and tidy at the end of the day in line with the daily and weekly cleaning checklist.

To ensure that equipment is maintained in good order and that any faulty or potentially dangerous equipment is immediately removed and reported to the Nursery Management Team.

To ensure stocks in the dry store are rotated daily and stock is monitored and maintained through the weekly shopping order.

To defrost fridges and freezers on a regular basis to maintain efficiency.

To promote healthy eating to children and staff through interacting over meal times.

To always have a ready supply of recipes for staff to use with the children and to ensure an availability of equipment for the children to experience cooking with.

Essential Criteria:

A current Food Hygiene Certificate

A current First Aid Certificate

An awareness of food allergies

Proven experience and ability to organise, plan and cook nutritionally balanced meals for babies and small children who have different dietary needs

Knowledge and awareness of Health and Safety issues including COSHH

The ability to use food preparation equipment and ensure the economic use of materials, equipment and energy.

The ability to order correct amounts of food and control kitchen stock

Ability to work as part of a team and own initiative

Ability to manage own time and prioritise tasks

Good customer awareness

Friendly, flexible approach

Commitment to undertaking appropriate training and continued professional development.

Commitment to equal opportunities

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From £12.71 per hour

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension

Experience:

• nursery cooking: 1 year (preferred)

Licence/Certification:

• level 2 or level 3 food safety (preferred)

Work Location: In person