Supporting St Mary’s Calne with tools and training to help their allergen management approach
Overview
With allergies now affecting 2% of all children, the catering team at St Mary’s Calne wanted to enhance the team’s knowledge of allergen management by having face-to-face training.
allmanhall’s Registered Dietitian, Tess Warnes, supported the School with a full programme of onsite training and allergen audits, webinars, and useful resources for staff and pupils.
“allmanhall’s training was incredibly helpful, interactive and engaging. We have made a number of changes since Tess’s visit, including implementing an allergen checklist matrix…
Whilst we already had a good system in place, this adds an additional level of safety and traceability to each dish.”
Linda Thomas, Catering and Functions Manager
Background
St Mary’s Calne is a leading girls’ boarding and day school in the UK, for girls aged 11 to 18. In 2023, the school’s A-Level results ranked third in the UK and joint second in the South-West of England.
What did the client need?
Allergen management is now a key part of any school caterer’s day and a responsibility that comes with their job. Assuring an up-to-date understanding and how best to manage allergens was of the utmost importance to St Mary’s Calne, and whilst they regularly undertook online training, the School’s Catering and Functions Manager, Linda Thomas, wanted to enhance the team’s knowledge with face-to face training.
What was the result?
Thirty members of the School’s catering team attended an allergen management training session, delivered onsite by allmanhall’s Registered Dietitian, Tess Warnes, to fit in around food service.
The training covered:
- An overview of allergies, intolerance and coeliac disease
- What to do if someone is having an anaphylaxis reaction
- Regulatory compliance
- Operational processes for managing allergies
As a result of the training, a number of St Mary’s allergen processes were reviewed and discussed by the School. The team have introduced an allergen check list matrix to be completed by the chefs for each dish they make.
What did the client say?
“allmanhall’s training was incredibly helpful, interactive and engaging. The next day I heard several members of staff checking things such as the purple boards for gluten-free and if we had a separate margarine tub for gluten-free sandwiches, which we do. We have made a number of changes since Tess’s visit, including implementing an allergen checklist matrix. Whilst we already had a good system in place, this adds an additional level of safety and traceability to each dish.”
Linda Thomas, Catering and Functions Manager
allmanhall are continuing to support the School on its allergen management journey, providing tools and access to processes and resources, to help them manage allergens. As Premium Business Members of Anaphylaxis UK, allmanhall is best placed to provide such support.
Additional accredited training for St Mary’s Calne can also be provided in the future, through the completion of the Royal Society of Public Health’s Level 2 Award in Identifying and Controlling Food Allergy Risk.
Important note: Natasha’s Law allergen Disclaimer from allmanhall