Bangkok--5 Nov--Jigsaw Communications
Concordian International School was preparing to move to a new purpose-built, high-tech campus in order to provide the best facilities and environment for their students. Progressive and modern, it matches the School’s aim to deliver a world-class education to children aged 3 to 18 through effective and innovative teaching based on the principles and objectives of the International Baccalaureate Organization.
The new campus has everything the School needs to ensure that it can provide the same high standards of education to its IB Diploma students that it was already offering to the Early Years, Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes. Each of these Programmes have their own areas and buildings within the campus, as well as having access to shared facilities. The facilities at the new campus include modern computer labs with internet access, well-equipped, safety —conscious science labs, a well-stocked library, arts and music rooms as well as indoor and outdoor sports facilities. Concordian also has a keen focus on providing suitable dining facilities and staffing so that students are offered high-quality nutritious meals they need to learn effectively.
Khun Varnnee Chearavanont Ross, Concordian International School, said “We place a great deal of emphasis on developing the full potential of our students which means that they need to be alert and maintain their levels of concentration throughout the day. In order to help them achieve this they need to eat the correct foods with the right nutritional value because it is well documented that children who eat the right foods do better than students who are hungry or do not have the correct diet. This meant that when we were building the new campus we wanted to find a partner that had experience in this field and who could help us design and build a kitchen that would meet all our needs and be able to create a nutritious menu that would meet the dietary needs of our students.”
During the search for a catering partner at the new campus Khun Varnnee remembers “As a visitor to Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital I had noticed that the quality of the food and the cleanliness of the catering facilities at the hospital had improved considerably. Upon enquiring I found that Sodexo had taken over the contract at the hospital and as a result I asked Sodexo to visit the school and provide us with plans for a kitchen and a proposal to manage the kitchen at the school.”
The designs and equipment Sodexo proposed for the new campus were perfect for the school and they not only allowed Concordian School to reduce the capital investment required for the kitchens, while offering better facilities, but also provided more dining space than previous plans. In addition, the food management proposal demonstrated Sodexo’s worldwide leadership in providing healthy nutritious meals in the education sector, with particular emphasis on the quality and standard of produce used in both the canteen and Toscana Caf?. Sodexo is also selective when it comes to choosing products used to ensure that cleanliness and hygiene of the facilities are maintained.
Mr. Frederic Huet, General Manager, Sodexo Support Services (Thailand) said “The advantage of using Sodexo is our international experience in the education industry which ensures that the best is provided to all students of different ages, ranging from nursery to high school. The opportunity to work with Concordian International School was very interesting to us, especially as we were able to design the kitchen and dining facilities to ensure that we can deliver our services to the very high standards required by the School’s management.”
At Concordian International School, Sodexo manages and runs the school canteen which is open for lunches, offering a lunch menu in 4 main themes, noodles, Thai/oriental, western and a choice for vegetarians. The canteen also provides snacks to students in Early Years up to grade 3. In addition, Sodexo manages their own branded Toscana Caf? which offers drinks and snacks to students, staff, parents and visitors. The School, with Sodexo, also operates a smartcard system for the purchase of all foods and drinks which reduces problems of handling cash and the potential for students to lose money.
Khun Varnnee said “Since we have been working with Sodexo, we have been very impressed with the services provided. The standard of the produce used in creating meals is very high and the quality and variety of the menus are very good, which has meant that we receive few complaints from students and parents. In addition, Sodexo are extremely responsive to our needs and demands, and will adapt a menu to meet our very exacting requirements. Their on-site manager is very helpful and we receive regular visits from their senior management who propose new initiatives which demonstrates their professionalism and concern that the School and our students receive the best possible services.”
Mr. Huet added, “We see our relationship with the School and the parents very much as a partnership and are continuously working to develop meals and snacks that are both healthy and fun for students of all ages to eat, and which also carry an educational message about diet and nutrition. Sodexo makes sure that meals served are nutritious and that the nutritional value of the food served is carefully planned to align with the activities and energy consumption during a student’s normal school day. In addition, at Concordian School we have introduced a campaign offering students snacks that contain 100 calories or less for them to eat between meals. This campaign is also being used as a way for students to learn about wise food choices.”
The combination of Concordian’s commitment to delivering a world-class education in state-of-the-art facilities together with Sodexo’s worldwide international experience in delivering nutritious meals that meet all the daily requirements a student needs to be able to learn and play means that students at Concordian International School have the perfect facilities, environment and diet to help them become the next generation of leaders.
For more information, please contact:
David Toogood
Managing Director
Jigsaw Communications
Tel: 02-253-2793
Email: [email protected]