Fiona McCaffrey Jones, Manager of the Community Services Programme at the Blackwater Valley Learning Centre handed over the last delivery of hot school lunches to Ruth Williamson, Principal of The Billis NS, along with some ice creams to mark the beginning of the summer holiday for the children and teachers.
“We were delighted that the parents of The Billis NS along with Mrs Williamson and her team were so keen to resume the hot school lunch service when the national schools reopened last March,” Fiona said.
“Before the lunch service resumed I engaged with Fiona to go through our list of queries and concerns,” Mrs Williamson explained. “Fiona was able to address these promptly and efficiently. We surveyed our parents to see if they would be happy to resume the hot school lunches after lockdown. 100% were happy to go ahead. I can confirm that we have had absolutely no issues with the hot school lunch service. Because Fiona was so open to ensuring we had the best experience, we felt confident to resume as soon as possible. The lunches are delivered to the school, school staff bring the meals in to each classroom and each pupil retrieves his/her piping-hot lunch. It’s a very efficient and COVID safe process. Our school has availed of the service since 2019 and it has been of great benefit to our school community. Hot school lunch day is a highlight of the week for the boys and girls!”
“Our catering staff and staff body are fully trained in HCCAP for Covid-19, menu development and catering systems and between them they have over 40 years’ experience working in the hospitality sector,” Fiona outlined. “We adhere to the HSE Healthy Eating guidelines and the hot meals are nutritionally balanced and freshly prepared each day from locally sourced ingredients.”
Fiona would be delighted to talk to other national school principals and Parents Associations in the north Monaghan area to discuss the possibility of bringing the service to more schools or after-school services in September 2021.
For further information about the Community Services Programme contact Fiona McCaffrey Jones on 047.87049/55 or email fiona@blackwaterlearningcentre.com
