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Job Title: School Cook
Location: Bestwood Village School, Nottingham NG6 8TL
Hours: 30 hours per week | Monday–Friday | 8:30am – 2.30pm
Salary: Up to £23,000 per annum (depending on experience, not pro rata)
Contract: Permanent | Term Time Only
Start: September 2026
UK applicants only – no sponsorship available
About the Role
Are you a passionate cook who takes pride in creating fresh, nutritious and delicious meals? Do you enjoy working in a busy environment where you can use your creativity, take ownership and make a real difference to children and young people?
We’re looking for a School Cook to join our school community and take the lead in delivering a high-quality catering service that pupils and staff can look forward to every day.
This is more than simply preparing meals. You’ll have the opportunity to plan menus, introduce variety, manage the kitchen and lead the catering team, while ensuring every meal is nutritious, well-presented and meets individual dietary requirements.
What You'll Be Doing
- Plan and prepare varied, nutritious and appealing menus that meet the dietary needs of our pupils and staff.
- Take ownership of the day-to-day running of the kitchen, ensuring everything is organised, clean and ready for service.
- Prepare meals to a consistently high standard, including catering for allergies, intolerances and special dietary requirements.
- Manage stock, ordering and deliveries, keeping a close eye on quality, portion control, budgets and food waste.
- Lead and supervise kitchen staff, delegating tasks effectively and supporting their development.
- Ensure excellent standards of food hygiene, health and safety and kitchen cleanliness are maintained at all times.
- Monitor kitchen equipment and report any maintenance or safety concerns promptly.
- Keep catering records accurate and up to date, including stock and relevant compliance documentation.
What you will bring
We’re looking for someone who is passionate about food, organised and takes real pride in their work. You’ll be confident working independently, managing a kitchen and leading others, while being happy to roll up your sleeves and get involved.
- Experience working as a Cook, Chef or in a similar catering environment.
- Experience of menu planning and preparing food for a range of dietary requirements.
- Knowledge of food hygiene, health and safety and COSHH requirements.
- Good organisation and stock management skills.
- The confidence to supervise and support a small kitchen team.
- A genuine interest in creating enjoyable mealtimes for children and young people.
About Us
Bestwood Village School is based in Nottingham and has capacity for 36 pupils. This is an exciting opportunity for anybody who wants to be a part of the successful development of a fairly new setting and make a difference to the education of our pupils.
For over 19 years Options Autism have provided care and education to pupils and adults with autism, complex needs and learning difficulties. As part of Outcomes First Group, we are leading our sector in setting and delivering new approaches that provide measurable outcomes for those in our care.
We are really proud to say that in 2025, Outcomes First Group were officially certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’ for the sixth year running.
Why Join Us?
We place pupils and vulnerable young adults at the heart of everything we do, so every day brings the satisfaction of making a real difference. We are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and young people. All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful applicants to a fully enhanced DBS.
- Life Assurance
- Pension scheme with options to increase contributions
- “Your Wellbeing Matters” – mental health support and physical health checks
- Flexible Benefits Platform (Vista), including:
- Health, wellbeing and insurance benefits
- Hundreds of UK and international discounts
- Cycle to Work Scheme & Electric Car Purchase Scheme
- Critical illness cover
- Family Growth Support, including enhanced maternity/paternity leave and paid fertility treatment support
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.
Outcomes First Group is committed to carrying out a fair, thorough and efficient recruitment process in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. Whilst we aim to keep applicants informed throughout, Outcomes First Group does not accept liability for any loss of earnings or other associated costs incurred by applicants as a result of delays or changes in the compliance process. All stages of the compliance process are subject to necessary safeguarding checks and compliance with statutory requirements, which may affect timescales.
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