9/11/11

Minutes 9/11/11

Absent: JK (at a shoulder specialist)

This Week: Dawn of Catering and Mel from Sodexo were visiting to talk about all things concerning Catering at school.

·      The tuna that is usually next to the baked potatoes has been moved to salad bar away from the pasta bar. The reason for this that there is a certain lack of restraint when self-servicing. Too much is being taken. The Catering Staff are cooking such a wide variety of food, and making everything available to everybody is very difficult.

·      The cold meat option is only a salad option, and questions about this were raised. Apparently, it was only ever a salad option, and Paulines were just taking cold meat willy-nilly along with various other main course meats. It has been moved to a more secure area to ensure no one resumes the old ways.

·      The quality of the often was discussed, and the general problem is that it is often too wet, or too dry. Often in general the taste is lost. The Catering Staff do have to make a lot of pasta, and often add too much water to keep the pasta from sticking together. It was solidly agreed, however, that the quality of the food in general is much better.

·      The tuck was also discussed, and an idea was put forward that porridge might now be able to be sold, and it was accepted. The tuck shop system is actually working much better, as the food is hotter when bought and there are essentially two tuck shops combined.

·      Issues of certain people taking too much food at lunch arose, and it was said that there’s only so much of it on offer at this new and improved quality, and there can’t be a free-for-all everyday. People need to show self-restraint, and the food is much better. People can opt for more food from different areas of the canteen if they are still hungry e.g. new sandwich bar, salad bar, which is very popular, and does have meat in it.

·      It was noticed that the sliced fruit option is no longer available. People were in fact taking the fruit and a pudding on top of that. The fruit is in fact a pudding. It will be put on again, as another try.

·      The Council was reminded that the menus are decided on a three week basis, and there are problems if people take far too much.

·      Availability of seasonings was discussed, and it is the case that salt is only available for Friday for one’s chips. This is because the school is partly responsible for our health choices inside school, and too much salt is bad. It makes sense that pupils, in particular young Coletines, should not have unlimited access to salt.

Other issues / last week:

·      Parking spaces – local council must be talked to if one wants to pursue issue further.

·      General Studies discussion – too complicated to find a simple alternative, and if people don’t get their preferred choices, that’s just the luck of the draw, sadly. It is an issue in the progress of being discussed.

·      First Aid Course at some point in the year – it is part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, but not everyone does D of E. The issue is that one needs to be licensed to teach a course. People could be brought in to the school to do it, though. There is a clearly a demand for it. We must wait for a discussion with higher powers to take place.

·      Coffee machine in the lunch hall – action deferred to Mashhood.

·      Common Room matters - we need a holder for plastic cups. Mr. Wilson has been asked to see Mr. Imerie. In an ideal situation, they need another water cooler, and perhaps a recycling bin for the used plastic cups.

·      The High Master would like to do some consultations with certain student bodies (e.g. the Council) about the new buildings being built i.e. what do we want in them, how green do we want it etc. Keep ideas in mind.