After months of careful planning, Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) has taken the strategic decision to move its school catering services in-house.

The move reflects the trust’s commitment to both children and staff. For pupils, the new service promises greater quality and, in the future, opportunities to have the curriculum enhanced with cooking lessons and curriculum-themed menus. Kitchen staff will benefit from greater ownership, increased training and career development opportunities.

 

All nine schools within the trust will be enjoying in-house catering arrangements from September 2025. The move enables ELAN to have greater control over menu planning, ingredient sourcing and meal preparation. 

 

Sarah Edwards, Business and Governance Lead at ELAN, said: ‘This is a significant shift in operations for our trust. Our schools have enjoyed a strong relationship with external catering providers for many years but, inevitably, these companies must also achieve a profit margin. Our intention is to create a sustainable model, where all of the funding we receive for meals, as well as any revenue raised from meal sales, will go directly onto plates and into maintaining high-quality environments for our children and staff to eat and work in.’

 

Many ELAN schools operate in areas of high socio-economic deprivation and school dinners are incredibly important for their health and wellbeing. Having greater control over what we offer means we can be sure they are receiving the very best. Clive Farmer, Estates Lead, outlined the wider benefits of a move to in-house catering: ‘We hope that this move will be transformational for our catering teams too. They are brimming with creativity and enthusiasm – some have already spoken about how they might be able to develop themed menus to support the curriculum. Catering teams make such an important contribution to school life and it’s great that they will soon be ELAN employees alongside their other school colleagues.’

 

James Oakley, Executive Headteacher, added: ‘This move was born out of a trust-wide commitment to ensuring that every child, in every school, has access to a delicious, filling and nutritious meal, every day. By using local providers where possible, we are not only securing excellent produce for our children but we also take another step on our journey to greener solutions – something that we take very seriously. Our schools have always stood for more than just SATs. One of our values is to ‘Do the right thing’ and we feel this move very much aligns with our core purpose. We are so excited for the months to come.’

 

The team have been working hard on systems and processes, meaning that there will be minimal disruption to families. ‘We are aware that families need to be able to make informed choices about meals and pay for them (where appropriate) in a quick and efficient way’ explained Andy Berry, Chief Financial Officer. ‘With this in mind, we will be using existing platforms, such as ParentPay, so that families don’t need to add another system into busy lives.’

 

Consultations with staff are ongoing on the approach to a formal TUPE process later in the year, with further information expected for school communities after this point.