CONFUSED ABOUT COOKING IN SCHOOLS ?

There are many excellent programmes, projects and initiatives about food and cooking in schools; the following information provides and overview of some of the key projects. There are of course many other projects that offer schools information, support and guidance on a more local basis.

Chilled Food Association - www.chillededucation.org / www.chilledfood.org

The Chilled Food Association (CFA) has worked with the Design and Technology Association to develop an exciting set of free teaching resources for your classroom. There are lessons for primary and secondary pupils on hygiene, tasting food and developing new products..

For more information please use our contact form. Click here

Active Kids Get Cooking - http://www.activekidsgetcooking.org.uk

Active Kids Get Cooking provides a real focus for schools in a time of great interest in child health, healthy eating knowledge and cooking know-how.

Active Kids Get Cooking provides an opportunity to reward pupils with collectable certificates which show off their food knowledge and cooking capability and up-to-date information and resources to support food activities in school.

When schools register with Active Kids Get Cooking they receive a Teachers’ guide which sets out all the different food activities that can be used at school. It also provides details of how to mark the work and the different types of certificate that can be claimed for pupils.

Active Kids Get Cooking supports the national curriculum, links to Healthy Schools initiatives, promotes cooking in school, supports the teaching of healthy eating based on the Eatwell plate, provides schools with the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to food education; recognises and rewards pupils.

Chefs Adopt a School – Academy of Culinary Arts

http://www.academyofculinaryarts.org.uk/chefs-adopt-a-school.html

Chefs Adopt a School is the Academy of Culinary Arts’ charitable long-term project which, through a ‘hands-on’ approach, focuses on developing an essential understanding of ‘taste’ and teaches children about the pleasures of eating, the provenance of ingredients and the processes by which raw materials are transformed into food. As well as providing a solid basis for learning life skills, it is hoped that this will encourage them to experiment for themselves.

The unique Chefs Adopt a School ingredient is the presence of a real chef who ‘adopts the school’ and delivers the sessions. The Chefs are members of the Academy of Culinary Arts who are leading professionals in this country. They give their time voluntarily to teach; the chefs deliver a series of 2-3 annual sessions, devised by the Chefs Adopt a School committee, in the form of structured one hour workshops which integrate well with Key stages 1-4 of the National Schools Curriculum.

Cook It! – Guild of Food Writers - http://www.gfw.co.uk

The CookIt! competition is open to all young cooks aged between 10 and 14 years of age. The theme for 2009 is ‘High Five!’ and entrants are asked to create a delicious two-course family meal using five or more different fruit and vegetables.

The six finalists will be invited to London, with all expenses paid, on Thursday 4 June 2009, where in the kitchens of the BBC Good Food Magazine, they will prepare their meals for a panel of judges including Xanthe Clay and Mike Robinson. There will be some great prizes to be won and the final will also feature in a future edition of BBC Good Food Magazine. Closing date for entries is Thursday 23 April 2009.

Focus on Food Campaign - http://www.focusonfood.org

At the heart of the Campaign is the drive to:

• Ensure cooking is at the core of food education;
• Improve food teacher training;
• Improve food teaching facilities in schools;
• Implement a whole-school approach to food in all schools;
• Make food education compulsory in all primary and secondary schools.
• Support cooking in the wider community

Schools can join the Campaign by registering free to support Focus on Food and its aims. Registering will bring access to teaching resources including the publication COOK SCHOOL and the chance to apply for a Cooking Bus visit. In return schools are asked to complete a simple survey once a year. Cooking Buses generally work within schools during term time but during holidays they support cooking activities in the community and any group can apply for a visit.

Food a Fact of Life – British Nutrition Foundation http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk

Food - a fact of life provides a progressive approach to teaching about healthy eating, cooking, food and farming from 3 to 16 years. This site provides free resources to stimulate learning, ensuring that consistent and up-to-date messages are delivered. There are 5 age groups; 3-5, 5-8, 8-11 and (from Feb 09) 11-14, 14-16.

For the primary age group areas of learning are divided into modules with each module structured around a series of key facts. These are the key messages and skills children need to know. The key facts ensure that children’s learning is coherent and progressive. To support teaching and learning, each module contains resources including, interactive whiteboard activities, PowerPoint presentations, recipes, card activities and video clips.

Food for Life Partnership - http://www.foodforlife.org.uk

The Food for Life Partnership is a network of schools and communities across England committed to transforming food culture. Led by the Soil Association, the Food for Life Partnership brings together the practical expertise of the Focus on Food Campaign, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust.

The mission is to reach out through schools to give communities access to seasonal, local and organic food, and to the skills they need to cook and grow fresh food for themselves. The Food for Life Partnership Mark is an action framework and award scheme to help schools and their communities transform their food culture.

Schools can enrol online and once enrolled, each school has its own page on this site to record progress against the award criteria, maintain a blog and upload photos. In addition enrolled schools receive an introductory pack including: Guidance on each award, Catering guidance & tips, briefings, posters, seasonal recipe cards and DVD One Planet Food.

Food in Schools – Primary Training This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The food in schools primary training programme provides teachers with an excellent opportunity to enhance and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding about food and cooking in the primary curriculum.

It enables secondary food teachers to work with primary schools to provide an informative programme of professional development; the Food in Schools training focuses on practical solutions for the busy classroom.

The key aims are to:

• increase teachers’ confidence and competence in teaching about food and nutrition;
• increase pupils’ experience of working with food;
• increase pupils’ knowledge of diet, nutrition, healthy eating, food chain principles, food hygiene and safety;
• support the Healthy Eating core theme of the Healthy Schools programme;
• help raise the standards of achievement in food education;
• develop a supportive network between schools concerning food issues.

www.foodinschools.org

Food Standards Agency - http://www.food.gov.uk

The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food.
The Agency carries out many activities to help encourage schools to adopt a 'whole school' approach to diet and nutrition and to help young people better understand the relationship between diet and health, help them make more informed food choices and gain the skills to safely prepare healthy meals.

Teaching resources have been developed to help primary school teachers throughout the UK. There are materials, advice and suggestions designed to engage children's interest in healthy food choices, keeping active and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. Plus there is information on how these materials fit with the school curriculum. There are also links to games and quizzes, plus advice on healthy eating for children and young people.

Let’s get cooking – School Food Trust http://www.letsgetcooking.org.uk

Let’s Get Cooking is a national network of cooking clubs aiming to help children, young people, parents and the wider community learn to cook ‘good food that is good for you’. The aim is to set up a network of 5,000 cooking clubs across England over 5 years. Over the first three years of the programme, every school in England will be invited to apply to join Let’s Get Cooking. Clubs are recruited in small geographical clusters, so that they can build up a local network and attend nearby training events.

Every six months around 450 schools are signed up (50 from each region). Schools are invited in waves by local authority and there are two recruitment waves in each region per year (November and June). The club recruitment timetable can be found on the website showing when Let’s get cooking is visiting a Local Authority and how many places have been allocated to each area. When Let's Get Cooking ‘arrives’ in an area, local schools receive an invitation to apply for membership. Once they receive confirmation of their place, new clubs attend an introductory session followed by a two day demonstrator training course and a start-up day in their area. After the start-up day, clubs can recruit their first group of children and family members and start cooking. Clubs hold sessions to teach cooking skills and run food and cooking activities at school and community events, mainly outside of school hours. Financial support, training and a resource pack is made available to schools.