Knox Grammar School is an independent private school located on Sydney’s North Shore, which formally began in 1924. Today there are 2,300 boys at Knox and the school offers boarding for up to 170 students. Knox operated its catering services in-house for over 70 years before awarding the contract to Sodexo in 1997. Sodexo took on all existing catering staff and offered retraining to align their skills with Sodexo’s expected standards.

In 2007, Knox completed a purpose built function centre complete with a new kitchen facility and a Senior School canteen. The Sodexo team assisted with the design and creation of the new kitchen facility as well as managing the transfer of the entire catering operation into the new facility.

In 2009, Knox extended their partnership with Sodexo by entering into a contract for a five year term, thereby extending the overall partnership to 15 years.

Two years ago, in 2011, a state-of-the-art Boarding Centre was completed with facilities comparable to those of a 3 star hotel including ensuites, study and recreation rooms, lift access, air conditioning, wi-fi and Foxtel. Sodexo designed a brand new laundry facility in this centre and implemented a new laundry process, in line with the boarding community’s requirements as well as offering a bed making service for boarders returning from holidays.

Later the same year the Great Hall was completed, capable of holding large events and conferences for over 1,000 guests. This has significantly increased the volume of function catering that Sodexo provides, now and in the future. This project also included the construction of an Art Centre, a 50 metre Olympic swimming pool and a Learn to Swim pool.

Currently under construction is the Knox Senior Student Academy (KSSA), a building designed to help transition students from Senior School to University. Sodexo is once again involved in design of catering facilities and function spaces for 600 students.

NUTRITIOUS & DELICIOUS FOOD

Sodexo provides a range of nutritious and delicious food offerings to the Knox students and boarders and staff which include:

• Catering 7 days per week - meal service for boarding students

• Management of Preparatory School Canteen including an online ordering service

• Management of Senior School Canteen

• Smartfuel healthy food offerings

• Cashless transactions (smartcard system)

• Dine in option for non-boarders in Dining Hall

• ‘Boys to Cooks’ Training program (in conjunction with William Angliss Institute)

• Catering for Functions / Conferences/ Events

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Sodexo provides a range of additional services to the school:

• Laundry

• Cleaning Coordination

• Waste Management

• Management of Retail Uniform Shop for all Prep and Senior Uniforms including on-line ordering

• Facilities Management (2012)
  

OUTSTANDING RESULTS

By partnering with Sodexo, Knox has realised the following significant benefits:

• Significant budget reductions within the first 12 months of operations, through our active scrutiny of every element of the catering operation

• Strong financial management and accurate budgeting, ensuring Knox receives the best value at all times

• True value for money - significant savings achieved through Sodexo’s global purchasing power

• High standards of food safety and OH&S compliance - Sodexo surpasses legal requirements and is held in very high regard with local authorities. For example the collection of high risk food samples is routine at Knox even though it is not legally required

• Comprehensive and transparency in reporting - reporting is of the highest standard

• Quarterly nutritionist's reports and balanced menus

• A dedicated team of long serving employees

• Sponsorship of school projects and major events by Sodexo

• On-site training and development programs and traineeships.
  

A PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE

Knox is Sodexo’s flagship site for the education sector and is an excellent training ground for Sodexo managers. As a result, Knox regularly hosts visitors from other schools (including other Sodexo education sites) interested in viewing the operation and impressive school facilities. In recent years, Knox has adopted the approach of ‘21st Century Education’ with the aim to completely modernise the students’ environment and Sodexo is proud to partner with Knox on this journey.