Location: Arboretum Primary School - DDAT
Hours: 25 hours per week (9:00am – 2:00pm, Mon-Fri)
Contract: Fixed Term to cover Maternity, Start September 2026, 38 weeks a year
We are looking for an Assistant Cook to work alongside our Catering Manager and her team in our busy school kitchen, to cover a maternity leave for up to 1 year.
The successful candidate will have experience of working in a school kitchen or similar commercial catering operation, and have a passion for cooking and inspiring children to eat. You will use your skills to prepare and cook meals from scratch using fresh, seasonal ingredients from local suppliers, ensuring a consistently high quality of service to our children and staff.
This is an opportunity to work as part of our friendly and enthusiastic team in a modern professional kitchen, encouraging our children to eat a variety of appealing and healthy meals.
In return we can offer you:
- A friendly, welcoming and supportive community who are immensely proud of their school;
- A commitment to continued professional development;
- A friendly working environment which supports and enhances our vision and ethos;
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Local Government Pension Scheme
Arboretum Primary School is a proud member of Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) (www.ddat.org.uk) and enjoys a positive relationship with a team of professionals providing effective support in school improvement and operations.
Arboretum is a happy place to be. Our school is full of laughter, care and love; where each child is respected as the unique individual that they are. At Arboretum we underpin all of our work with the school’s values of ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’.
We are a large 625 place primary (which includes 32 children in our 2 year old unit and 60 in our 3 year old nursery), with a rich, ethnic mix of delightful and well-behaved children. We have a modern school that sits in large attractive grounds. We pride ourselves on our caring ethos and the value we place in our dedicated and friendly staff teams. We are a popular school, and have a waiting list for most year groups.
DDAT welcomes a diverse population of both children and staff and is committed to promoting and developing equality of opportunity in all its functions.
DDAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory references, online checks, completion of a probationary period, pre-employment and Disclosure Barring Service checks. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare any cautions, convictions, reprimands and final warnings that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020).
Please note that all candidates must have a right to work in the UK in order to be able to work at our Trust. Unfortunately we are unable to offer sponsorship for international job applicants.
We warmly invite prospective candidates to visit the school to find out more about us and the role. To register your interest, call the school office on (01332) 291140 or email [email protected].
For application details, please go to Join Our Team on the Main Menu of our website at: www.arboretum.derby.sch.uk where you will find job details and application forms.
Please complete both the DDAT Support Staff application form and the Monitoring form. Applications should be emailed to [email protected] or posted to the school address. Please note that the correct forms must be completed, and CVs or other methods of application will not be accepted; we will not consider CVs as part of the shortlisting process.
The closing date for this vacancy is 9:00am Monday 6th July 2026. Any applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.
Interview Dates: Tuesday 14th July 2026
