Matron-on-Duty – 07:10 – 12:45

Managing the Kitchen, General Assistants and other duties

07:10 – 12:45

  • Collect all the margarine, jam , milk and bread from the tables.
    • All cold stuff to be return to the fridge.
  • Give the general assistants their bread, cereal, yogurt etc for breakfast.
  • Take out the necessary items for the meals as required for lunch.
  • Purchase the necessary items for lunch.
    • Purchase the necessary fruit and veg early and do not wait till later in the day as all the fresh produce may be sold out. If possible arrange that your order is packed and ready for collection.
  • Hostel that has electric peelers must warn their kitchen staff to start peeling early. Load-shedding may delay the preparation of food and also lunch.
    • Hostel staff to avoid this happening at all cost. 
    • Backup generator if available on the premises to be on standby in the event of load-shedding.
  • Food preferences
    • kitchen staff to be aware if pork or cheese is on the menu for the non-pork eaters and to ensure that alternatives have been provided for them.
    • Also allow for the vegetarian that need to be accommodated.
  • Tell the Cook/general assistant how many lunches to keep according to the sign out register.
    • packed lunches for boarders that are playing sport away from home will be prepare and taken to school before the end of the school day 
    • the matron on will get the number of lunches to pack from the Matron-on-Duty of the late shift.
    • If teams do leave earlier, coaches to arrange for the lunches to be collected on their way out.
  • Fill up the sugar, jam, syrup and margarine containers for the next meal.
  • Prepare the juice for the evening meal
  • When stock is low write it up in the order book.
  • Matron-on-duty to place orders for foods from suppliers two days prior to delivery
  • Check all deliveries carefully
  • Foods that are not delivered at the time and day need to followed up by a phone call to avoid a backlog of an order.
  • Milk deliveries may vary from hostel to hostel. Keeping a record of the average milk usage per day will assist in be able to order the correct amount and not to have any wastage. 
  • If you feel you may be short on milk, place the order the day before.
  • Keeping the hostel clean is the next priority.
    • Check that the dorms are clean to your satisfaction.
    • Check that the toilets are clean to your satisfaction.
  • Fill up the toilet paper on Wednesdays and Fridays. if refilled on the Friday it is done for the beginning part of the week.
  • Fill up on detergents on the Friday  so that it is ready for the general staff on the Monday.
  • The general assistant working on the garden and general maintenance must be given a worksheet of tasks to be complete  as it is difficult to oversee outside personnel.
  • It is the Matron-on-duty’s responsibility to ensure that hostel staff work according to the Basic Employment Act Regulations as to avoid extended lunches and breaks. 
  • Hostel staff do have accommodation on the premises but the keys to their rooms must be handed in to the matron-on-duty if they are not staying overnight or are out for the weekend.
  • The general assistant tasked to work outside may also need to be available to work inside, especially when it rain and work outside cannot be done.

Questions