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Teachers
News bite from the British Nutrition Foundation...
Cooking made compulsory
The Foundation welcomes the announcement from Rt. Hon. Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for for Children, Schools and Families, about the teaching and learning of food becoming compulsory in secondary schools throughout England.
What does this mean?
- From September 2008 all pupils in secondary schools will have the
entitlement to learn how to cook through the Licence to Cook programme. This
entitlement will be delivered mainly through the revised Design and
Technology: food curriculum, although schools can deliver the entitlement to
suit their local needs and circumstances. The Foundation's Education Group
is working in a consortium to develop resources of behalf of the DCSF. For
further information, go to:
www.schoolsnetwork.org.uk/ cooking - Recruitment and training for an additional 800 food teachers will take place.
- Learning basic cooking skills is already compulsory for children in maintained primary schools in England. From September 2011 the food element of D&T will be compulsory for all Key Stage 3 pupils (as will resistant materials and systems and control).
- Funding of £2.5 million will be available towards the cost of ingredients for pupils on free school meals from September 2011.
Stephanie Valentine, Deputy Director General of the British Nutrition Foundation says: "This opportunity for young people to earn their Licence to Cook will help to encourage enthusiasm for cooking at home using a range of basic ingredients. The more young people are able to shop wisely and cook healthy, appetizing meals for themselves, their friends and families, the better chance of halting rising rates of obesity in this country".
The public are being asked to suggest, to the DCSF, which classic British
and international main courses and puddings young people should be taught by
emailing getcooking.consultation
@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
For further information, go to:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/ DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0015
What about the rest of the UK?
The Foundation is delighted that Wales will be making food compulsory at Key
Stages 2 and 3 from September 2008. For further information, go to:
wales.gov.uk/topics/
educationandskills/
curriculum_and_assessment/
arevisedcurriculumforwales/
nationalcurriculum/?lang=en
In Northern Ireland, food is now compulsory in secondary schools in Learning
for Life and Work, which includes Home Economics. For further information,
go to:
www.nicurriculum.org.uk/
learning_for_life_and_work/
guidance_and_resources.asp
In Scotland, Curriculum for Excellence will be publishing draft experiences
and outcomes for Technologies and Health and Wellbeing in May 2008. These
two areas will have food aspects. For further information, go to:
www.curriculumforexcellence
scotland.gov.uk/about/
timescales/current.asp
© British Nutrition Foundation 2008
The Wednesday Club: Practical cooking skills
What is it?
The aims of the Wednesday Club are:
- Understanding why and how we need to cook as to maximise freshness impact.
- Learning how to use kitchen equipment and knives safely and correctly.
- Becoming familiar with different foods, even those we have never tried.
- Cooking food and enjoying the experience, while understanding the whole process.
- Tasting food, texture, appearance and flavour of produced individual dishes, as well as those of the other students.
This is a unique programme in the UK designed by Francois and his team. It's delivered under the supervision of teachers in attendance, our Nutritionist Avidey and Head Cooks. It's available to all interested Academies or Schools in UK and beyond - the principle used by Francois is adaptable to all cultural variants!
How did it start?
Fifteen students under the supervision of two teachers attended a class aimed at teaching practical cooking skills needed to produce fresh, interesting, nutritionally sound everyday meals.
Whilst in Restaurant école we never talk about Healthy Food, because we have decided to focus minds on freshness, the health aspect is an important by-product. We are able to get the healthy eating message across to our customers who may be just 12 years of age!
Very special thanks to Oasis Academy, Enfield - in particular, the principal, John Walton, who supported us with "the Wednesday club" from the word go!
How does it work?
A lesson plan is produced for each lesson and the students receive handouts each week, giving the recipes and general information on the food and techniques used in that lesson. Lesson one starts with health and safety in the kitchen (hand washing, colour coded chopping boards etc) and basic knife skills. By lesson 6, students will be making a lasagne. By this time, they will be chopping vegetables, making béchamel and fresh tomato sauces, shallow frying and oven baking.
The students attend this class for a term of between 10 and 12 lessons. They will be able to prepare, cook and taste1 their own dishes. To evaluate the success of the dishes that have been prepared, you may wish to use our exclusive "Mathew Scale" scoring sheet.
All recipes and teaching lesson plans are available from our website and are subject to copyright. If you want to use them contact our office first!
1Rather than take them home, the finished dishes are consumed as part of our group feedback programme- which helps the students learn from their experiences.
Sample lesson plans
Week 1 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 2 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 3 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 4 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 5 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 6 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 7 Sample Lesson Plan
Week 8 Sample Lesson Plan
