Dining Hall

The Dining Hall was opened in June 2000 by the celebrity chef Paul Rankin at a fun occasion enjoyed by all the children, the staff and many parents. Paul took on our Catering Manager, each assisted by a member of staff – their names drawn out of a hat! – at “Ready, Steady Cook”, and I did the Ainsley Harriot bit!

 

 

We believe that what happens at meal-times impacts powerfully on the rest of a child’s day. The spacious serveries in our Dining Hall ensure that queuing is a thing of the past (and with it the restlessness of children with low blood-sugar having to be kept in line by reluctant staff). The kitchens allow for the production of really good, fresh food which is now served by kitchen staff who are relaxed, happy and more than ready to give the children a smile and a cheerful greeting. The space in the hall allows for children to sit with their friends (though the younger ones eat in a more traditional style at pre-determined tables with their teachers and matrons who reinforce the importance of good table manners.

 

As you look round the Dining Hall you will notice tables of eight with two green chairs supplementing the beech coloured ones. The rule is simple: green for staff, brown for children, thereby ensuring good supervision! Furthermore the Head of Boarding, the Housemother and her Assistant patrol all meals, not only keeping a close eye on table-manners but also on the balance of what is on each child’s plate! Healthy eating is strongly encouraged, and vegetarian dishes and fresh salads are always available, and we do our very best to meet individual dietary requirements. We also invite the children to be a little more adventurous in their tastes and every lunchtime there is a Chef’s Special which offers to educate young palates with Thai Green Curry, Roasted Vegetables on (slightly!) spicy Couscous, and so on. When you have finished your tour, have a look at the menus in the “Care” section of the website, with the teddy-bear icon!The acoustics in the hall are carefully controlled too, ensuring a calm and quite ambience for meal times, and the view is spectacular. If you live in a beautiful place you ought to take full advantage of it. All round the campus you will see buildings with plenty of glass offering lovely views and lots of natural light. This makes a big difference in all sorts of ways and adds a spiritual quality to much of what the children are doing.

 

The dining arrangements result in the children spending much longer over their meals – no more gobbling down food in a rush to get out of a noisy, overcrowded and generally uncomfortable environment – eating much more, and displaying table manners that are better than ever! Every meal at Port Regis is now a pleasure for all concerned.

 

As we move out of the Dining Hall we pass the conveyor belt which takes the trays into the magic grotto where the fairies look after the washing up. The children are also very good at thanking the fairies! So the last memory everyone has of each meal is something considerably more appealing than scraping leftovers into the pig-swill bucket …….

 

And so we end our virtual tour of Port Regis. We hope you have enjoyed it and we look forward to welcoming you here to show you the real thing! Thank you for your time and do have a look at the rest of the website for further information on the various aspects of life at this remarkable school.

 

To return to the start of the Tour, click here