Schools catering manager celebrates 30 years of service.
Schoolchildren and staff at Kirklandneuk Primary School have gathered to celebrate Renfrewshire’s longest serving catering manager.
Lorraine Kingsley has been part of Renfrewshire Council’s schools catering team for an impressive 30 years and has been a familiar face at the Kirklandneuk Primary serving hatch for 26 of them.
Joining the service aged 16, Lorraine has witnessed and embraced the development of the schools meals service, which has moved on from mince, tatties and tinned fruits to today’s more flexible and inspiring approach.
She has been instrumental in the council’s effort to transform its school meals service with Kirklandneuk being one of the first primary schools in Renfrewshire to introduce a ‘grab & go’ style menu with twice weekly ‘dine in days’.
The new formats have proved popular with pupils, and where implemented, have lead to an increase in the numbers of young people opting for school meals. Lorraine has been championing ‘grab & go’ in neighbouring schools so even more children can benefit from the increased variety.
Councillor Eddie Devine, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Environment Policy Board, said: “It’s thanks to the input from dedicated employees like Lorraine that we’ve been able to improve and update our school catering service. Moving away from the traditional format of a sit-down meal served in the dinner hall to a more informal, self-serve approach has been highly effective. It is a lot more appealing for pupils and gives our young people access to a greater range of healthy, nutritious and affordable food options.
Councillor Devine joined Head Teacher Shirley Wieland, pupils and other council staff to surprise Lorraine with a bouquet and a handmade cake baked earlier by members the council’s catering team based at Montrose Care Home.
Courtesy of Renfrewshire Council.