Running the centre
Dining-hall cancellation
A dining-hall cancellation is the notice that someone will not have lunch or dinner at a particular sitting. It is given before the cut-off time the residence sets, so the kitchen prepares the right number of servings instead of throwing away the ones nobody collects.
Also known asmeal cancellation · meal opt-out · skipping a meal · signing out of a meal
How it is used in a residence
In a full-board residence the rule is that everyone eats, and what gets reported is the exception. The cancellation is the simplest notice and the one most often lost: it is said in passing in the corridor, written on a sheet the kitchen never sees, or arrives when the food is already cooked. That is why each meal has its cut-off time, and anything after it is treated as late. It is not the only notice that changes the kitchen's work:
| Notice | What changes for the kitchen |
|---|---|
| Cancellation | One serving fewer at that sitting |
| Packed lunch | The serving becomes a takeaway |
| Keep a plate | A plate is set aside; the person still counts as eating |
| Meal to the room | The serving is taken up to someone who is ill |
Weekend and bank-holiday cancellations usually have their own rule, and an absence of several nights should not mean cancelling meal by meal: that comes from the absence log. And whoever cancels should be able to undo it before the cut-off without having to find anyone. All of it feeds the headcount forecast. In Bedel: dining hall.
Related terms
- Absence logThe absence log is the record of the nights each resident spends away from the residence: when they leave, when they come back and, in many halls, what they eat on the day they leave and the day they return. Porters use it to know who is missing, and the kitchen to avoid counting people who are not there.
- Packed lunchA packed lunch, in a residence dining hall, is the lunch or dinner the kitchen prepares to take away instead of serving it at the table, for residents who have class, a placement or an exam at that time. It is ordered in advance and replaces that meal's serving.
- Headcount forecastA headcount forecast is the estimate of how many people will eat at each sitting, built from who lives in the residence, who has said they will not come and how each day of the week usually behaves. It is the number the kitchen uses to decide how much to prepare.