The catering at a York school has been given a poor rating in a hygiene and safety inspection.
But the head teacher at Huntington School says this is a temporary blip caused by a delay in a major upgrade to the dining facilities.
City of York Council food safety inspectors visited the school, which has 1,500 students aged 11-18, on 27 September.
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Today it emerged their official Food Hygiene Rating for North Yorkshire County Caterers at Huntington School was just 1 out of 5. This signals ‘major improvement necessary’.
They found:
- Food Hygiene and Safety was ‘Poor’
- Structural Compliance was ‘Poor’ and
- Confidence in Management was ‘Little’
A poor rating for food hygiene, safety and structural compliance means ‘some major non-compliance with statutory obligations’.
‘Little’ confidence in management means a ‘poor appreciation of hazards and control measures. No food safety management system.’
New dining area
Matt Smith, acting headteacher at Huntington School, said the poor ratings were a temporary blip due to the delayed reopening of upgraded dining facilities.
A much-improved dining area opened today at the school following a £1m investment by City of York Council.
It was meant to be ready at the start of the school year. But the building work was two months late, a delay contractors blamed on a shortage of supplies.
In the interim, the school was using a small kitchen in the Sixth Form Common Room.
It was never intended to be used for mass food production – and this was the area judged to be lacking by the food hygiene inspectors.
Since the report, the school has been using the catering facilities at nearby Fulford School and transferring cooked food across each day at the request of North Yorkshire County Caterers.
Mr Smith said: “Our parents have been incredibly understanding about what has been a very challenging situation, and City of York Council have been 100% supportive too.
“We are delighted to move into our new dining room today, with a state of the art kitchen.”
The new facilities double capacity in the dining hall, from 240 to 500 students.
He said the upgraded facilities should receive a food hygiene inspection soon, when he expected to at least regain their previous rating of a 4 out of 5.