Cambridgeshire County Council opens new kitchen to train school cooks

The kitchen will train school caterers from Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties. It will offer a range of courses, including professional National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in catering. It will also offer specialist short courses run by the Cambridgeshire Catering Services (CCS) internal training team and external training providers. Councillor Curtis explained: "This is a superb new facility, which will further improve the range and quality of the meals we are able to offer by training staff to the highest standards. There has never been a better time for children to have school meals." School Feast offers a range of training options which CCS is committed to delivering. It provides CCS employees with the opportunity to access free, professional NVQs. Each trainee has his or her own dedicated workstation with multi-media points available for interactive learning. The School FEAST network was established in October 2006 after the former Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills Alan Johnson announced a £2 million capital fund to establish these centres of excellence.