About Us

Cook – Residential Children’s Home
£24,684 - £28,542 per annum (pro rated for part time staff)
Permanent, Part Time
18 hours (4.5 x 2 days and 9 x 1 day a week)
Wandsworth
Ofsted Rating: ‘Good’

Are you an experienced and creative Cook who is passionate about providing a well-balanced diet for children and young people? The Oakdene Children’s Home provides residential care to a number of children and young people with learning difficulties. This role will provide you with the opportunity to make an impact on their health by taking a key role in designing menus. Can you provide healthy and nutritious meals for these children and young people to enable them to flourish? 

About the role

Experience: Do you have proven experience of working in a kitchen environment serving children with meals that meet their needs and requirements? 

Health and Safety: You will need to have a good understanding of Health & Safety regulations with an up-to-date Food Hygiene Certificate.

Dietary Requirements: A key part of your role will be planning menus of well-balanced meals, ordering foods considering any dietary requirements and religious beliefs. You will demonstrate previous experience of stock taking and ordering-working within a budget. 

Flexible Working / Shift Work: You will be working between 2pm – 6.30pm on weekdays and 10am – 7pm on weekends. There will be the option of additional hours to cover annual leave and during school holidays. 

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

• Patience working with children who have moderate to severe learning difficulties. 
• You will have the ability to manage your own workload, use your initiative and have good organisational skills. 
• Good communications skills with the ability to interact with children and young people with learning difficulties. 
• Qualifications are not essential but desirable. 

If you meet the above criteria and want to contribute to the health of children and young people, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

Contact details

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Jessica Taylor at Jessica.Taylor@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Closing Date: 6th October 2024
Shortlisting Date: w/c 7th October 2024
Interview Date: w/c 14th October 2024

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. 

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know. 

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.  

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils