Schools ahead of the game for cooking in class

11:25am Thursday 7th February 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

The Government plans to make it compulsory for all secondary schools to offer cooking from 2011. Charlotte Shepherd looks at what primary and secondary schools in the area are already doing to get their students cooking.

"THERE is a lot going on in secondary schools in Gloucestershire," explained Kirsty Pritchard food and schools manager for Gloucestershire County Council.

"Children should know and understand and be empowered about their diet, health and sustainability," says Fairford Primary School head teacher Jane Sparling.

She feels that Cotswold schools are already in a good place to respond to the Government's plan for all secondary schools to offer cooking by 2011.

It has helped that a scheme called health 4 schools has been running in Gloucestershire for the past three years.

"We have been lucky because we have had health 4 schools," Mrs Pritchard said. "Over 100 schools have been involved with cooking and growing their own food."

With school catering firm Sodexo offering cookery workshops at up to 190 schools in Gloucestershire and 112 schools in Wiltshire, there is already a firm foundation on which to build towards the Government target.

The Government announcement has been welcomed by cotswold chef and food campaigner Rob Rees.

Mr Rees, who chaired the health 4 schools campaign, and was involved in advising the Government about its plans for making cooking compulsory in schools, told the Standard: "I have been actively campaigning for years for this.

"There has been a lot of Government focus towards primary schools. Secondary schools are more of a challenge.

"It is not just about cooking. It can have a massive impact on health and well-being."

Many schools in the Cotswolds are already offering what the Government is asking for and in some cases much more.

Pupils in years 7-9 at The Cotswold School in Bourton-on-the-Water have a module in food technology and catering has become a popular GCSE subject.

"Students prepare a meal for a senior citizens Christmas party and cook once a year for the whole of year 11, served by the staff," head teacher Ann Holland explained.

Chef Rob Rees has visited the school on several occasions and cook Prue Leith is due to pay a visit in March.

The school prides itself on growing its own food in its garden and that all its canteen food is cooked on the premises.

"We make the link between food, our canteen, the garden and the curriculum," Mrs Holland stressed.

There is a similar story at Farmors school in Fairford and Cirencester schools Deer Park and Kingshill, where cooking, or food technology as it is called, has always been on the menu.

"All pupils in key stage 3 do food technology," Kingshill head Christine Oates told us. "And it is a very popular choice at GCSE. The Government announcement will make no difference to our curriculum."

Louise Parker runs the food technology courses at Deer Park which offers more than the one hour a week the Government is proposing.

"We are lucky because our timetable allows us to cook in two hour blocks," she said.

"The Government guidelines are a step in the right direction but schools need to allow proper time. You can't cook a lot in one hour. We can do meaningful cooking," she explained.

Many believe teaching secondary pupils the basics of good cooking can help later in life in the fight against obesity and other food-related health problems.

Luanne Bond is the supported housing officer at Cirencester Housing for Young People, CHYP.

She said many young adults who pass through their doors are often unable to fend for themselves. "They will know the simple things like beans on toast or supernoodles," she explained. "They have no living skills in general. That is the way it is these days."

Mrs Bond believes it is a combination of not doing enough at school and parents doing too much for their children in the home.

CHYP sets about teaching young adults the basic cooking skills, such as how to prepare a spaghetti bolognese.

Another recent example is Fairford Primary School where pupils recently enjoyed a visit from a 'cooking bus'.

"Children should know and understand and be empowered about their diet, health and sustainability," says Fairford Primary School head teacher Jane Sparling.

She knows that getting students interested in cooking at primary school can make them more receptive to cooking at secondary school.

Her school was chosen to take part in the Food For Life Partnership scheme aimed at transforming food culture in schools and communities.

The school is aiming to become a Flagship school and a beacon of good practice for other schools in the region to learn from.

The scheme, set up last year with £16.9m of Big Lottery funding, has at its heart the Focus on Food Campaign Cooking Bus, which visited the school at the end of January.

"The cooking bus helps children to understand where food comes from. It is a holistic approach," said Mrs Sparling.

School children were given the chance to have lessons on the bus and when the Standard visited were taught to make leek, pear and smoked cheese triangles and a potato and beetroot salad.

It is not just the school children who visit the bus, Governors and teachers are also invited on to learn about the best approach to teaching the children cooking when the bus has left.

"The cooking bus helps children to understand where food comes from." explained Mrs Sparling. "It is a holistic approach."

FACTFILE * From 2011 it will be compulsory for all 11-14 year-olds to receive hands-on cookery lessons.

* Schools that currently have facilities to offer food technology classes (85 percent of all schools) will be expected to offer compulsory lessons from this September.

* From September 2008 schools who cannot yet offer cookery classes will be able to take part in a "Licence to cook" scheme at after school cookery clubs or at neighbouring schools.

* Around 800 new food technology teachers will be trained over the next three years.

* By the end of March 2008 100 cookery teachers will have been recruited and trained to help schools who do not teach food technology.