Bid to put cooking back into lessons

TEENAGERS are to be given compulsory cooking lessons at school for the first time, under Government plans to ensure all pupils know how to make a healthy meal.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls is asking the public to come up with ideas for the classic English dishes and international cuisine children should learn to cook.

Cooking is already compulsory in primary school. But while 85 per cent of secondary schools offer food technology classes, these do not need to include practical cooking.

From September, every 11 to 14 year-old in schools offering food technology classes will be taught practical cookery.

The remaining 15 per cent of secondaries which do not already teach food technology - mainly all boys' schools and former boys-only schools - will be expected to teach the compulsory classes by 2011.

The emphasis will be on making sure pupils can master simple, healthy recipes using fresh ingredients, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said. Mr Balls wants members of the public to suggest the dishes to be taught. He is asking anyone with suggestions to email the Government.

The announcement comes as part of the Government's obesity strategy, Mr Balls, pictured, will launch with Health Secretary Alan Johnson tomorrow.

Mr Balls said that unless action was taken now, the country would have "real problems" with obesity in the coming decades.

"If we can make sure that people are all learning to cook the basics, then maybe they can take that home and infuse some of that into their home environment, then that can make a real difference to the healthiness of our society in the next decades," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

But head teachers have criticised the plan.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said six months ago ministers had promised school heads greater flexibility in the curriculum for 11 to 14 year olds. Yet already the Government was imposing more compulsory classes.

There would be practical difficulties about delivering cookery classes in all secondary schools, Mr Dunford said.

"As many of us said at the time, the Government should never have downgraded practical cookery 20 years ago, substituting - for example - design a picnic' for the skills of making picnic food.

"In the intervening years, schools have been built or refurbished without practical cookery rooms.

"It will be impossible for about 15 per cent of schools to put practical cookery on the timetable until they have the proper facilities.

"There is also a shortage of cookery teachers, who will take time to recruit."

* If you would like to email the Government with suggestions for dishes teenagers should learn to cook at school, the address is: getcooking.consultation@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

THE PUPILS...

DOT Hornby raises her voice above the excited chatter of young voices in one of Joseph Rowntree School's two warm teaching kitchens.

"Right, quickly!" she calls. "Down to the front, please."

Her class of 11 and 12-year-olds gather around her desk, adjusting apron strings and making sure long hair is tucked into bands.

"Today, we're doing the sweet part of our packed lunch," Dot says. "Have you got your recipes? Who's doing shortbread?"

A few hands shoot up, and Dot hands out laminated recipe cards. "Flapjacks?" A few more hands, a few more cards. "What are you doing, Julie? Cookies? Here you are."

The children start chattering, comparing their recipe cards. Dot calls for silence once more.

"The first thing you need to do, when you get back to your places, is get your ovens on," she says. "Then make sure you've got all your equipment out. If you need any help, put your hand up. OK. Ready, steady. cook!"

The children break up into little groups and head off to turn on their ovens. Soon, they're all busily stirring and mixing while Dot and her small team of food technicians circulate, offering help and advice.

Schools secretary Ed Balls wants to make cooking classes compulsory for all 11 to 14 year olds. Well, Joseph Rowntree School got there long before him: youngsters here have been learning practical cookery for years.

And after five minutes into Dot Hornby's class, it is clear they love it.

Jordan Heaver, 12, is mixing syrup into a bowl of oats. "I really like cooking," he says. "I like interacting with things. I like doing physical work - and cooking is a bit physical."

Yesterday, he tells me, he made wraps. "Mine had chicken, barbecue sauce and lettuce. I took it home, and they all tried a bit." And did they like it? "My brothers said oh, it's OK," He pulls a face. "But mum and dad said it was lovely."

Next to Jordan, 11-year-old Francis Dick is making up a sticky concoction all of his own. He loves experimenting with different recipes and ingredients, he says.

"My mum taught me to cook. Just to help!" He wouldn't be up to doing a roast chicken on his own, he admits. "I wouldn't know the temperature. But I can cook a lot of things myself."

Alex Field, 12, also loves cooking. "I just like to really try things together, and see what's new," he says eagerly. It is important to learn to cook, he adds. "When you get older, if you're on your own, you're going to need to know how to cook."

Bethany Chappell, 12, and Emily Pilmoor, 11, are standing across from each other at another oven. Unlike the other children, who are making sweet cakes and biscuits, Bethany is chopping up onions to make a spaghetti Bolognese. "I cooked my sweet yesterday," she says. "Shortbread. It was nice."

Emily, who is mixing the ingredients for butterfly buns, is offering Bethany advice. "You want to cut the onions up smaller," she says. Both agree learning to cook is important. "When you are older and you live by yourself, your mum isn't there to look after you," Emily says.

Liam Lowson, also 12, is making flapjacks. He didn't want to learn to cook at first, but now he enjoys it.

"My mum compliments me. I wasn't allowed to cook at home before, but now I am." And what will he do with his flapjacks? "I'm going to take them home for my mum."

The skill shown by some of the class is remarkable. Oliver Armitage, 11, is making shortbread and talks me through the process. He lists the ingredients - flour, butter, castor sugar - then shows how to mix them. "You mix it like that with your fingers," he says. "It comes together like a ball, then you put it in the middle of a tin." He demonstrates, deftly.

Dot Hornby is proud of her charges - and convinced of the value of practical cookery lessons at school.

"It's a basic life skill that everybody needs," she says. The children learn about food, so they will eat more healthily in future, Dot says. While they are learning to cook, they are also learning other skills - such as the use of English, maths, and even the value of teamwork.

And, to top it all, they have fun. I can vouch for that.

REACTIONS...

PROPER cookery classes for all teenagers in secondary schools are long overdue, says Stillington-based cook and nutritionist Annie Stirk.

It is vital that young people understand about food - where it comes from, and how to prepare it, Annie says.

"It is so important for us that we know how to feed ourselves, that we know what's good for us and how to keep our bodies healthy and fit," she said.

"It is also important from the social point of view. It is about family values, friendship, groups - the whole thing about sitting down to a proper meal together, not just grabbing something and eating on the hoof."

The kind of dishes young people learned to cook at school needn't be too sophisticated, Annie said.

They should learn a basic repertoire of simple dishes, including meat, fish, eggs, cheese, pasta and vegetables.

It was important that teenagers learned not only how to cook, but also about where food came from, she said.

"They need to know what to buy, and how to buy it," she said. "Teachers should be taking them to supermarkets and to farm shops, and also taking them out to the fields to see the food being grown."

But the proposals were criticised by Nick Seaton of the York-based Campaign For Real Education.

Compulsory cookery classes were yet another distraction for teachers who were already overburdened, he said.

"Politicians are expecting too much of teachers. We should allow them to get on with their main job, which is teaching English, maths, science and so on.

"If students want to take cookery at school, that's fine. But it shouldn't be forced on them."