Sample working with schools project: The summer challenge

Partners:
Ashton Park Secondary School
Extended School Partnership

The Brief
Use food and cookery as a platform to successful transition from Primary to Secondary school. To give Year 6 pupils a taste of life at their new secondary school while working on a week-long cookery challenge over the summer holidays to learn to plan, prepare and cook a buffet for 100 invited guests with the theme of 'Healthy Celebration Cooking on a Budget'.

Activities included

• Learning to plan and cook healthy, delicious food to appeal to people of all ages and tastes.
• Combining cookery skills with an awareness of the constituents of a balanced diet, the eatwell plate, traffic light labelling, budgeting and planning a large- scale buffet.
• Visits to a local farm and supermarket to shop for ingredients and keep within budget.
• Visit from a sports celebrity to the end-of-week event.

The Results
At the outset pupils did not know each other or what the challenge would entail, arriving on the Monday with a sense of fear and trepidation. As the week progressed they learnt how to plan, shop, cook and budget for a large scale event, as well as bond together and work as a team.

The celebratory lunch for 100 Invited guests then allowed pupils to put their newly found skills to the test. The event was a great success, with elderly guests from local sheltered accommodation, family, teachers and friends enjoying a delicious and healthy buffet lunch. The prospective pupils completed the week filled with a sense of pride, enjoyment and new friendships — and with confidence they could take with them to their new school.