The meals in this school are magic, Sir!

Date published: 18 January 2011

Dinners at Philips High School are proving a big hit with pupils thanks to major refurbishment of the kitchen and dining room.

State-of-the-art cooking equipment has been installed at the Whitefield school along with an energy-efficient extraction system, new service counters and furniture.

The improvements create an excellent atmosphere in which students can tuck in to a variety of healthy menu options, from a two-course set meal of the day to individually priced menu items such as pasta or curry pots, hot wraps, homemade soup, filled jackets, salad bowls and hot and cold sandwiches.

Pupils can also use a sophisticated computerised software system that recognises each person by their fingerprint image. A record is stored of how much money they have spent or paid in to the system, and what items they have bought, which helps to speed up service and queuing times.

The facilities were officially opened near the end of 2010 by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor John Byrne. He joined pupils, teachers and governors for Christmas dinner and a tour of the school, and also presented prize-winning pupil Jessica Filidoro with an iPod Touch donated by Pasta King.

Sonia Smith, head of catering at Bury Council, said: “Through the introduction of the new ‘food to go’ range, catering staff are now able to serve lunch to more than 500 pupils in less than an hour. Students have the opportunity to purchase healthy and nutritious fast food items that are attractively displayed and can be served quickly. The opening event on Christmas dinner day was a lovely way to thank the school, the building contactors, the catering team and the food suppliers for their part in making this great project happen.”

Mr Chris Trees, head teacher at Philips High School, said: "We are delighted with the new arrangements with regard to the catering facilities at Philips High School. Both the range and quality of the food have improved greatly under the new contract negotiated by the governing body and the appearance of the dining room has been greatly improved. Sales are up and the reaction of the pupils has been summed up by the following comment from a new Year 7 pupil: ‘The meals in this school are magic, Sir!’.”