26/07/2024
To all our lovely school children and parents, and the wider Sonning Common community…..
We wanted to write to you all personally to explain some things that have been happening, and which you have probably seen in the local news.
Kites Kitchen Ltd have been providing school meals to Sonning Common Primary School, as well as the local Preschool and Bishopswood Special School, since September 2011. We have always been proud of offering the highest quality service, healthy and nutritious meals, and catering for many and varied dietary requirements for all the pupils in the schools.
Kites Kitchen had a routine annual inspection in July from South Oxfordshire & Vale Environmental Health Officers (EHO), and it has now been well documented that a dead field mouse was found in a non food storage cupboard, and droppings in areas of the kitchen. The EHO have a duty to protect and keep safe all premises that produce and serve food, and have been efficient and helpful through this process. This kitchen has always had the highest ratings and never had a pest control issue in the past.
Please understand that this does not mean that we were managing the kitchen improperly, and our standards have always been very high. We have continued to operate in the same way for the last 13 years as the ratings of 5 in all previous inspections will show. We are lucky to live in a beautiful rural part of South Oxfordshire, surrounded by fields and greenery, but that does mean buildings are at risk from pests like field mice.
We understand that the kitchen had to be closed for the last week of term in order to get on top of this issue and have cooperated fully with the council officers in their role to keep everyone safe. We have acted swiftly and the kitchen and whole building have had a rigorous pest control regime to deal with the problem.
The kitchen at Sonning Common Primary School has now been thoroughly deep cleaned by a reputable company and pest control have confirmed that the problem has been dealt with. There will of course be regular checks going forward and we are applying for reopening asap as we have now complied with all requirements issued by EHO.
We cater because we are genuinely passionate about providing really good food for the schools over the last 13 years. This incident has been very upsetting to deal with for the whole team (all are mums, who have mostly had children go through SCPS, currently and in the past) as well as damaging our reputation. We will continue to provide excellent meals from September and hope we can rely on your support.
Our kitchen is managed via a government approved documentation system with regulations and daily/weekly checks that we have always followed. This is what the Environmental Heath Officers routinely check.
SCPS and the Preschool have been amazingly supportive and the team look forward to seeing you all, and some new faces, in September.
We thank you for your understanding and continued support. Kites Kitchen cater for many and all dietary requirements and we are very open to anyone who`d like to come and talk to us about this issue or any other.