Fueling student life through education catering
St Gregory’s College, Sydney, New South Wales, is a Catholic all-boys school known for its strong sense of tradition, thriving sports culture, and an excellent boarding program that feels like a second home for many students. And with more than a thousand boys across both boarding and day school, feeding the community is no small task. The College needed a catering partner who could keep up with hearty appetites, bring variety to every meal, and still make nutrition and wellbeing a priority.
The vision was clear. Find a school caterer who could provide consistent quality, keep communication simple, and support students’ growth both inside and outside the dining hall.
This is where gather by Cater Care came in.
You can also watch the testimonial video and hear directly from the students and staff.
The gather way: flexible, fresh, and focused on wellbeing
When St Gregory’s partnered with gather two years ago, they wanted a genuine partner. With extensive experience in education catering and a tailored approach to meal planning, gather was chosen to meet the needs of students across study, sport, and boarding life.
‘Our partnership started two years ago, and we couldn't be happier.’
gather’s school catering services are designed around students’ lifestyles and dietary needs, with a focus on flexibility and collaboration. For a boys’ school, that means plenty of filling options, seasonal variety, and specialist knowledge in areas like sporting nutrition. It also means listening, adapting, and working side by side with staff.
‘It works really well. So it's a great partnership. We like our catering partner to be a partner, and it's a really easy relationship for us to work with.’
Our core vision is to nourish students’ bodies and minds. It’s well known that eating behaviours of children and adolescents are shaped at a young age and tend to be followed throughout adulthood. For us, that means bringing fun and curiosity to the dining experience, with healthy eating initiatives and themed meal days that introduce students to new cuisines and encourage community.
A good school caterer makes a big difference
Hearty meals, happy students
For boys who spend long days balancing study, sport, and boarding life, food needs to be both filling and satisfying. That means generous portion sizes, plenty of variety, and menus designed to keep energy levels high all day.
‘We're an all boys school. So boys like to eat lots of carbs and lots of food, and they've been absolutely fantastic with helping us with that and making sure that they get an appropriate amount of food, which is lots. And they make sure that there's lots of variety for them, which keeps them really interested.’
We work closely with each school to design customised menus that meet students’ nutritional and lifestyle needs. For growing teenagers, that often means higher-calorie meals with the right balance of carbs, proteins, and nutrients to fuel development and support active schedules. By building variety into the menus, students also get the chance to try new cuisines and develop healthier eating habits that last well beyond their school years.
‘They taste very nice. My favourite meal they provide us with would probably be a chicken schnitzel – very good.’
Flexible partnerships that make life easier
Working with a school caterer means constant collaboration. Every school has unique needs, which is why gather avoids a one-size-fits-all approach. Regular conversations, feedback, and a willingness to adapt mean menus and services are always aligned with what staff and students actually need.
‘The quality of the people that we're working with, the quality of the food, how easy the team is. If you've got an issue, they’ll work with us to change it. So we'll sit down and we'll work with the catering team, and we put changes in place to help our boys.’
This kind of flexibility matters, especially in a boarding environment where catering is central to student wellbeing. From adjusting portion sizes to creating options for special diets, the gather team works side by side with staff to make sure no detail is overlooked.
School catering for functions, sports, and everyday life
School catering isn’t only about breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the dining hall. Events, sports days, parent nights, and staff gatherings all demand something a little different: customised menus, sharp coordination, and the confidence that everything will run smoothly.
That’s why St Gregory’s relies on gather not just for student meals but for the many functions that bring their community together.
‘We have … lots of functions at a place like St Gregory's College, and [gather is] really easy work with. So the feedback from all our families is absolutely fantastic, in relation to the food that they supply and the service. And we've never had any hiccups with any of our functions.’
With years of experience across thousands of events, we bring the behind-the-scenes expertise schools need to make every occasion memorable, while staff stay focused on what matters most: their students.
What the students say
And, of course, at the heart of every catering decision is the student experience. gather’s approach balances nutrition, variety, and joy to make mealtimes something the boys genuinely look forward to.
For boarding students, who often rely on these meals as their main source of daily nutrition, that means delivering the right vitamins, minerals, and proteins in a way that feels satisfying, familiar, and fun, with lots of options to keep them interested.
‘There's always options there at night, so if you're not feeling a certain type of food, there's always another one you can have.’
‘Simple, delicious, and there's always seconds!’
Our vision of school catering services
At gather, we want to help students feel at home in their school environment, offering them choice that keeps mealtimes interesting and creating the sense of community and belonging that makes school life thrive.
Our partnership with St Gregory’s shows what’s possible when a school caterer works hand-in-hand with staff and students: hearty meals, great events, and a dining experience that students genuinely enjoy, with enough food to keep even the hungriest boys satisfied.
We look forward to many more years of working together and continuing to fuel futures one meal at a time.
If your school is looking for a catering partner who can deliver the same, explore the services we provide or reach out to David for a personalised chat.
To find out more, get in touch with David O’Brien to have a quick chat about how gather can provide your students and residents with a well-rounded and connecting mealtime experience.
