Another York school has scored just one out of five for its food hygiene rating

For the second time this week, a York school has been awarded a poor food hygiene rating.

On Monday, we reported how catering at Huntington School had been given just one out of five by City of York Council inspectors – a rating blamed on the problems caused by delays to its new dining hall.

Now Bootham Junior School has also been given a one out of five rating. This means ‘Major improvement necessary’.

Unusually for such a lowly rating, the school’s catering was ranked ‘Very Good’ for both food hygiene and safety, and for structural compliance.

But its score was reduced because inspectors said they had ‘Little’ confidence in management – meaning there was a “poor appreciation of hazards and control measures” and “No food safety management system”.

Bootham Junior School, on Rawcliffe Lane, is part of the private Quaker group which includes the famous Bootham School.

‘Extremely disappointed’

Helen Todd, head of Bootham Junior School, told YorkMix: “Naturally, we are extremely disappointed at this outcome, as Bootham Junior School takes great pride in its well-earned reputation for producing excellent freshly prepared food for our pupils each day. 

“The inspector gave both our hygienic food handling and cleanliness of facilities the highest rating of ‘very good’.

“However, following one occasion where soup was reheated, it was concluded that our management of food safety needed to be improved.

“We have immediately provided our staff with training and guidance and ensured that all our food safety compliance packs are up to date.

“We, of course, absolutely prioritise the safe preparation of our meals. We are satisfied that this was an isolated incident and are already in the process of applying for our hygiene rating to be re-assessed. 

“We see no reason why it would not then be reinstated to at least a 4, if not a 5, as all of our previous inspections have concluded.”