Westminster school uses Lincat equipment for its training kitchen

The kitchen has been fitted with six workstations at differing heights (720mm and 850mm) to accommodate the age range of the children, to enable them to cook safely. Each workstation incorporates an HT3 two-plate boiling top and a V6/FD fan-assisted glass door oven. Preparation tables, sinks and wash hand basins at corresponding heights complete the new kitchen layout. Suzanne Parry, head teacher at St Augustine's, chose Lincat after consulting John Merrifield of Lincat distributors ES Catering Equipment whose company already has a good business relationship with Westminster City Council, having worked on similar projects on their behalf. She explains: "Our cookery classes were previously held in a room that was unsuitable because it was filled with domestic equipment that was too high for a lot of our pupils. Some were unable to reach the cookers safely, which meant they were unable to cook for themselves. "We still needed to have some taller equipment in there because of the age range of the pupils using it and also because we sometimes offer classes for parents, but we also needed to accommodate our youngest children. ES catering talked it through with us and came up with a design for the room using equipment at various heights. "In addition, we wanted to get across the importance of hygiene by keeping our cookery sinks separate from the wash basins, so that the pupils learned to wash their hands in a separate place." Early feedback from the school is very good. The kitchen is about to go into use. "Our first impression is brilliant. The Lincat equipment seems very hard wearing, which is paramount in a school environment. It is easy to clean, with plenty of storage solutions, and the different height workstations are perfect to accommodate all our pupils. "The glass front ovens mean the pupils can see their food cooking, which is also very helpful. "Once we get underway the kitchen will be used not only for the cooking club, but also for healthy eating workshops for children and parents, for design and technology classes and even for some lessons in science. It will be in real demand and this new equipment is really going to get some use."