Rachel Brickman at Welburn Hall School in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire has been busy cooking with her local primary schools. The children were invited to Welburn Hall to make pizzas and bread and enjoy what they had made with the other pupils. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves which you can see from their thank you letters!
Hamilton Primary School’s store cupboard is given a brand new lease of life!
Following the conversion of a lowly store cupboard into a modern kitchen at Hamilton Primary School in Colchester, pupils are taking their cookery and healthy living skills to the next level. They now attend extra Healthy Living coaching sessions at Colchester County High School to develop new skills for use in their own kitchen.
“I like cooking and made a birthday cake for my mum,” said eleven-year old Kieran Hood, whilst kneading some dough in a recent pizza-making training session at CCHS. “I used butter and eggs and flour and a lot of chocolate.”
“Cooking is just like Chemistry,” commented classmate Drew Hamblion, deftly mixing raisins into the bread dough. “I made a sponge cake for my mum on Mother’s Day and because I had learnt how to cook at school, I could make it by myself.”
Inspired by her own training experience and keen to make the most of the superb cookery skill opportunities offered by the new kitchen, Hamilton LSA Mrs Stephanie Handley, who recently attended Food in Schools primary training with the Regional Manager for the programme, encouraged 13 other Colchester teachers and LSA’s to attend Mrs Allan’s (also a trainer for Food in Schools primary training) Healthy Living courses at CCHS to increase their confidence and skills for teaching food preparation in primary schools.
“Our new kitchen has been so inspirational for staff and pupils at Hamilton Primary,” enthused Mrs Handley. “The children come in with such diverse notions of what food preparation involves and what it means to eat healthily. Supported by our training and visits to CCHS, we are able to help them to develop the skills and knowledge to move towards a healthier diet whilst also ensuring that they have a lot of fun and can take their learning back home to share and enjoy with their families. It is a long term project with hopefully, long term positive results.”
“I have really enjoyed the cookery lessons we are offered at school,” adds William Hobson. “I am allergic to quite a lot of things and my whole family has to be careful what food is around at home. These cookery classes have helped me to see that I can use different ingredients to the other children and still make something delicious.”
Pupils choose cooking over football at St Michael’s Primary School, Colchester
SCONE OR SCORE?
The St Michael’s Primary School Cookery Club has inspired such enthusiasm and interest in its pupils that recently some even chose to attend extra Cookery classes rather than take part in a Football tournament!
“I have not done much cooking at home but this lesson to make scones and muffins sounded like it would be fun, so I decided to try this instead of Football this week,” said Zac Fleming, one of the group attending the cookery session led by Mrs Chris Allan, Healthy Living teacher at the Colchester County High School for Girls and a project leader for the Food in Schools government initiative. “I have really enjoyed this lesson and I would like to do much more,” continued Zac. “It is good to find out how to make food properly and I am very pleased with the things I have made to eat.”
Year 6 teacher, Mr Turner, and assistant Miss Jo Waxman commented that “the Cookery Club at St Michael’s is immensely popular so we have to rotate the groups to enable all the children in Key Stage 2 have a chance to attend. It is fantastic to see them so inspired and involved in such a valuable Life skill and these extra sessions with Mrs Allan make the children feel their cookery is really respected.”
Another Year 6 pupil, Ella Willcox, also plans to put her learning to good use. “I do a lot of cooking at home with my parents. I have made brownies and banana bread. I enjoyed this lesson because, although it was difficult to make the dough just right, my scones turned out very nice.”
Press contact: St Michael’s Primary School and Nursery, Berechurch Hall Road 01206 546412
Adding value: a recipe for food in schools success
Mary Beckford’s food room at St Peter’s CE Middle School in Windsor may be small, but the Mini-masterclass she ran there in June was so well organised that a great deal was achieved in a short space of time.
Children came from four primary schools who are part of Mary’s local cluster and were accompanied by teachers and TAs who learnt alongside the children.
Each group of Y3/4 children were allocated a Y8 buddy to work with them. Mary first demonstrated each recipe for the whole group. The buddies then did a great job of modelling the relevant skills and good practice for the younger children whilst making sure that they tried things for themselves, rather than having it done for them. They also kept a check that safe and hygienic practice was being carried out.
Mary’s objectives for the session were for children to learn:
the importance of eating fruits and vegetables
how to combine a range of ingredients into a range of healthy foods
that hygiene and safety rules need to be followed when preparing and cooking foods
how to chop and prepare vegetables
Recipes of the day were:
Samosas / Spring rolls
Caribbean red pepper salsa
Fruity muffins
This was part of Mary’s on-going work combining Food in Schools primary training, Let’s Get Cooking and the Adopt a Chef scheme that she runs in conjunction with Michael Coaker from Thames Valley University. A lot of ingredients went into the mix, but as far as Mary was concerned this was a fairly regular day in her life as a food teacher. Mary is a Food in Schools Accredited Trainer and St Peter’s is a flagship school for the Food for Life Partnership. “As a food teacher I am used to juggling lots of balls and enjoy being a hub extending into the community and encouraging all kinds of practical food work.”
What the children said:
“We like working with our buddy. He shows us what to do.” “It’s great to have a go at making something for ourselves and we get to taste things too.” “We learn how to be safe in the kitchen, but it’s all fun and we learn lots.”
What the teachers said:
“We always look forward to receiving an invite to St Peter’s because we know the children will really achieve and enjoy – we do too!” “We pick up tips and ideas to take back into school and try with other children.” “Mary’s Food in Schools network meetings for local primary schools inspire us and keep us up-to-date with what is happening and what we could be doing.”
Children left with certificates recording what they had achieved, plus a bag of edible goodies and big smiles on their faces.
Mary Beckford’s food room at St Peter’s CE Middle School in Windsor may be small, but the Mini-masterclass she ran there in June was so well organised that a great deal was achieved in a short space of time. 
