Farlington School is benefiting from the culinary delights of its new catering manager, Paul Hatch, with the school saying that he has “revitalised the school food”.
Hatch joined the Harrisons Catering team at Farlington last year and has a degree in Nutritional Medicine. His focus is on not just serving meals on time or managing budgets, but also providing healthy, well-balanced food.
He organises catering for the whole school, heading up a team of nine, at lunchtime and the boarders’ breakfasts and dinners from two separate kitchens, as well as catering for open mornings, trips and match teas.
Students and staff are enjoying a variety of healthy food including parsnip and coconut soup, Moroccan tagines and moussaka, in addition to salads full of seeds, pulses and a variety of vegetables.
Special events such as the recent Chinese New Year have been marked with traditional food, which the school said has been enjoyed by the children.
During his catering career, Hatch also worked in schools to give talks on nutrition and ‘food for brains’ to sixth formers, as well as giving demonstrations on smoothie and sushi making.
He regards part of his role as educating children about food by encouraging them to try a variety of foods of different flavours, colours and textures. Also important to Hatch is widening pupils’ food choices and encouraging them to experiment – especially the younger students.
With many different food allergies, intolerances and conditions such as celiac disease, as well as preferences such as veganism, Hatch considers providing alternative options a normal part of his job. He can deliver food using gluten-free or dairy-free products to cater for different needs.
The team at the school said the new catering manager has “put the flavour into Farlington’s food” and they “look forward to sampling his new dishes in 2019”.
Farlington School is an independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 4–18 in West Sussex. It is two places up in the Sunday Times Parent Power Top 100 Prep Schools on the previous year, based on its SATs results.
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