Every school in the UAE closes to pupils a few days a year so that the staff can learn. British-curriculum schools call them INSET days, American and IB schools call them professional development or PD days, and the regulators in Dubai and Abu Dhabi expect to see them in the calendar. Whatever the name, the shape is the same: 100 to 300 teachers, teaching assistants, administrators and support staff in the hall or spread across classrooms from 7:30 until mid-afternoon, with an agenda that somebody has spent weeks on and a catering plan that somebody else has to produce on the same day.
This guide is for the school business manager, HR lead, PD coordinator or office manager who owns that plan. It covers the arrival breakfast, break timing, the lunch, the dietary mix, the stationery and the order. For the everyday version, the school staff room pantry guide covers what teachers need during a normal week; for the sector overview, see the schools and universities industry page and the schools and universities pantry guide.
When PD days happen, and why it matters for the order
A UAE school year typically has a cluster of staff days before pupils return in late August, one or two attached to the term breaks in December and March, and sometimes one in the final week of June. That timing has consequences:
- The August days are the hardest. Half the staff are new to the school and some are new to the country; the pantry has been shut since June; the kitchen contractor may not have restarted; and it is 40 degrees outside. Water and cold drinks matter more than any other item on the list, and the order has to be placed before the summer, not in the week the staff return. The September back-to-office restock guide has the restart checklist.
- The mid-year days are simpler because the school is running, but they often coincide with the start of a term when every other school in the emirate is ordering too. Order a week ahead.
- A single PD day in a normal week is the easiest case: the staff room is stocked, the kitchen is open and you are topping up rather than starting from zero.
Check the exact dates against the academic calendar your regulator approved, then put the catering order in the calendar a fortnight earlier.
The arrival breakfast
Staff arrive between 7:15 and 7:45, often having skipped breakfast to get there. The first thirty minutes of a PD day are social, and the breakfast is what makes it feel like a day the school has thought about rather than a day it is enduring.
- Coffee that can serve 150 people in twenty minutes. A bean-to-cup machine cannot. Batch-brew airpots, flasks or urns, two or three stations, plus tea urns with a range of teas including herbal and a milk and plant-milk station. The town hall and large meeting coffee guide explains the maths; the coffee range and herbal teas range cover the supply.
- Something to hold in one hand. Fruit, yogurt pots, granola pots, mini pastries, labneh and za'atar wraps. The corporate breakfast and meeting catering guide covers formats and quantities and the breakfast and corporate events range is the starting list.
- Water everywhere, from the first minute. Cases of still water at every station and in every breakout room. In August, double it. The juices and waters range and the winter hydration guide cover the two ends of the year.
- Arabic coffee and dates at one station, which Emirati colleagues, Arabic teachers and a good many others will appreciate, and which costs almost nothing extra; the Arabic coffee and dates guide explains the service.
Breaks that match the agenda
The most common PD-day complaint is not the food; it is the timing. A session overruns, the break is cut to ten minutes, 200 people queue for coffee and the second session starts late and grumpy.
- Agree the break times with whoever owns the agenda, then put the refreshments out five minutes early and leave them out. Breaks on a PD day are 20 minutes, not 15, because 200 people cannot get a coffee in 15.
- Mid-morning: a top-up of coffee and water plus fruit, nuts and bars. The nuts and seeds, dried fruits and low-sugar treats ranges have individually portioned options that look right and keep people going. Avoid the sugar spike that a tray of doughnuts delivers at 10:30 and takes back at 11:15.
- Mid-afternoon: the sleepy slot. Coffee, cold water, fruit and something salty. If the budget stretches, a cold drink: sparkling water, iced tea or coconut water from the coconut water and electrolyte drinks guide.
- Spread the stations. One coffee station for 200 people is a queue; three stations in three corners is a break.
A lunch that does not end the day
The afternoon session after a heavy lunch is where PD days go to die. The lunch should be good enough that people feel looked after and light enough that they can still think at 14:00.
- Formats. Boxed lunches or a buffet of sandwiches, wraps, salads and fruit with a hot option. The lunch and learn catering guide covers quantities and timing; the team offsite and workshop catering guide covers a full-day event in more detail.
- Vegetarian is not a minority option in a UAE school. A staff room drawn from India, the UK, the Philippines, Egypt, Lebanon, South Africa, Jordan, Pakistan and a dozen other countries will include lacto-vegetarians, Jain colleagues, egg-free diets and people fasting on particular days. Plan for a third or more of the lunch to be vegetarian, make it a real dish rather than the sandwiches with the filling removed, and label it. The vegetarian colleagues guide explains the detail, and the meat alternatives guide and meat alternatives range cover plant-based protein that holds up at a buffet.
- Halal throughout, labelled allergens. The halal compliance guide and the allergen and dietary labelling guide cover both; a school with a nut-free policy for pupils will usually want the staff day to match, and the nut-free office pantry guide explains how.
- During Ramadan, a PD day needs a different plan: shorter hours, no visible lunch service for fasting colleagues, water and food available discreetly for those who are not. The healthy fasting at work guide covers it.
The stationery the workshops actually need
A PD day is also a stationery event, and the same order can cover it. Flipchart pads and markers for every breakout room, sticky notes in quantity, notepads and pens on every seat, name badges for the August days when nobody knows anybody, printer paper for the handouts somebody will decide to print at 7:00. The stationery and pantry in one order guide explains why combining the two saves a purchase order; the stationery and office furniture range has the list.
Hygiene and clearing
Two hundred people eating in a hall for a day generates a lot of waste and a lot of touched surfaces. Bins at every station, hand sanitiser by the food, wipes for the tables, and a clear plan for who clears after breakfast, after lunch and at the end. The facility hygiene range covers consumables; if the school's cleaning contractor is not on site on a staff day, say so in the plan, because somebody has to do it. Disposables should meet the UAE single-use plastic rules; the cups, cutlery and disposables guide explains what is still allowed.
The order for a 200-person PD day
- Coffee for three stations serving 200 people over three service points: beans or ground for batch brew, tea selection, milk and plant milk.
- Water: at least two 500 ml bottles per person for a mid-year day, three in August, plus water for breakout rooms.
- Breakfast: fruit, yogurt and granola pots, mini pastries, labneh wraps, Arabic coffee and dates.
- Two breaks: fruit, nuts, dried fruit, bars; cold drinks for the afternoon.
- Lunch: boxed or buffet, at least a third vegetarian, halal throughout, labelled.
- Stationery: flipchart pads and markers per room, sticky notes, notepads, pens, badges, paper.
- Hygiene: bin liners, sanitiser, wipes, compliant disposables.
For a university or college running a faculty development day, the faculty lounge and exam season guide covers the higher-education version; for a training provider running the same day for a client, the training centres guide applies.
Where we deliver
My Healthy Office delivers to schools and universities across Dubai, including the school clusters in Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Knowledge Park, Al Quoz and Dubai South, and across Abu Dhabi, including the campuses on Saadiyat Island, Yas Island and Al Reem Island. Staff-day orders can be delivered the afternoon before so that nothing depends on a 7:00 gate; for the term-time staff room, the same account runs the recurring order.
The short version
- Put the catering order in the calendar a fortnight before each PD day; the August days need the order placed before summer.
- Breakfast on arrival: batch-brew coffee at several stations, one-hand food, water everywhere, Arabic coffee and dates.
- Twenty-minute breaks agreed with the agenda owner, refreshments out early, fruit and nuts rather than doughnuts.
- A lunch that is a third or more vegetarian, halal, labelled and light enough for the afternoon session.
- Add the workshop stationery and the hygiene consumables to the same order.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much coffee and water do we need for a 200-person school INSET day? Three serving stations of batch-brew coffee and tea with milk and plant milk, refilled at each break, and at least two 500 ml bottles of water per person on a mid-year day, three on an August day, plus water in every breakout room.
What should the arrival breakfast on a PD day include? Food people can hold in one hand: fruit, yogurt and granola pots, mini pastries and labneh wraps, with coffee and tea that can serve 150 people in twenty minutes, water from the first minute and an Arabic coffee and dates station.
How do we stop the afternoon session going flat after lunch? Serve a lighter lunch of sandwiches, wraps, salads and fruit with one hot option, keep portions sensible, put cold water and fruit out for the mid-afternoon break and avoid heavy, sugary food at 13:00.
How much of a school staff lunch should be vegetarian? Plan for a third or more. UAE school staff rooms include many lacto-vegetarian, Jain and egg-free colleagues, so make the vegetarian option a real dish, keep everything halal and label allergens clearly.
Can the stationery for the workshops go on the same order as the catering? Yes. Flipchart pads, markers, sticky notes, notepads, pens, badges and paper can be added to the pantry order so the PD day needs one purchase order and one delivery.
Does My Healthy Office deliver to schools the afternoon before a staff day? Yes. Orders can arrive the afternoon before so the breakfast is set up before 7:00, with delivery to schools across Dubai and Abu Dhabi including Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Knowledge Park, Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.
