Jamie Oliver and Edexcel create cookery course for secondary schools
Jamie Oliver has teamed up with the UK's largest education body Edexcel to create a teacher-friendly cookery course for secondary schools.
The Home Cooking Skills course, which will be available for all UK secondary schools and further education colleges later this year, represents his first move back into education since his ‘Jamie's School Dinners' campaign and television series in 2005.
The idea formed out of a conversation between Oliver and Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Edexcel's parent company Pearson.
Oliver said: "Six years ago, I asked the Government to make cooking and life skills compulsory for all kids so that they learn about food and good eating habits while they're young. Six years on, the government have set aside time for mandatory cooking lessons for 11-14 year olds, but a lot of teachers and head-teachers are still wondering how they're going to fill those hours."
He said that he grew impatient waiting for a plan to be formulated so decided to take on the task himself.
"I wanted a course that would inspire kids but also inspire teachers; something that would be both easy and fun to teach. I also wanted to be able to ensure that those hours were packed with absolutely crucial learning, so I started developing a course for key stage 3 to teach everything you need to know.
Designed with teacher-ease in mind, teacher support materials will accompany the course, which are user-friendly enough for those without a home economics qualification to be able to teach. In addition to step-by-step photography for every recipe there will be internet video support, and hints and tips to help teachers master basic cooking skills before teaching their classes.
Home Cooking Skills will be available in two levels. Level one will focus on the skills needed to prepare tasty and nutritious home-cooked food from fresh ingredients as well as the value of passing on cooking knowledge.
Level two will develop the students' ability to plan and prepare a series of nutritious home-cooked meals for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner, and help them understand how to cook economically.
In addition the course will cover other essential basics such as how to equip a kitchen and shop cleverly to save money; fridge management and food rotation; how to write a shopping list; and how to read and understand confusing food labels.
Rod Bristow, Pearson UK president said: "I have great admiration for Jamie and the way he has championed nutritional value. His vision of equipping children and adults with the skill and ability to cook healthy and nutritious meals sits seamlessly with our desire to ensure everyone is able to achieve their full potential."
Judy Hargadon, chief executive of the School Food Trust, said: "There has been a huge transformation in the quality of school food since Jamie brought the issue into the nation's living room 6 years ago, not least with the introduction of the License To Cook and Let's Get Cooking schemes that are in force now for young people in England.
"Even with so many cooks and teachers already involved in providing healthy school meals, there is always room for someone of Jamie's calibre to share his expertise in cookery lessons. We welcome the news that Jamie continues to be involved in the school food agenda and we look forward to working with him and his team over the coming months and years."
The Home Cooking Skills course will be ready for schools and colleges to begin teaching in September.
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By Janie Stamford
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