Frequently asked questions
To support those taking part in the East Midlands roll out, we have answered below some frequently asked questions. If you have any further questions not answered below, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Download a printable version of these FAQs (Word file, 101 KB).
Funding
- How much funding is available?
- How is the funding made up?
- When do I get it?
- Is there any help with accounts?
- How much detail does there need to be in the action/budget plan?
- Are there any ideas for ways we can get additional funding?
- How will I know where it is in the school accounts?
- How does the funding have to be spent?
- Do children have to pay for sessions?
- What is the average cost of setting up a club?
- Is there any more funding after this year?
Networking
- What kind of organisations are involved?
- What support is available to keep the momentum going?
- How can I support the co-ordinator of the club?
- Can I observe any clubs?
- How can I support clubs in my local area?
- How do I get to know about other projects?
- Are we going to be able to share ideas?
- Will there be links between clubs and the local area?
Delivery
- How do we organise within school?
- Who is responsible for running the club?
- How do we start?
- How often do clubs have to run?
- How many pupils do we have to have in each club?
- Do we have to work with the same group of pupils all the year?
- Can we work with older/younger students?
- Do we have to include partner schools? How flexible can we be?
- Can I change my action plan?
- Can this be run as part of the school day?
- Do children receive a certificate?
- Can staff delivering What's Cooking? be accredited?
- Can this be run in a youth club setting?
- Where does this fit with ECM?
Other questions
- Does ASDA support this project?
- Are there any supermarkets/food providers who have committed themselves to What's Cooking?
- How can we involve other organisations?
- Are there contacts for visits?
- Are there chefs available to help?
- How can my school get support/money etc for better school dinners, snacks etc?
- How does the project fit in with the healthy schools award?
- How does this relate to Ofsted?
- What type of assessment do you require?
- How are clubs going to be monitored?
- Where do I find more information about: food hygiene, nutrition, food appreciation, consumer awareness, 5 a day
Funding
Q. How much funding is available?
£1,300 per club, to support delivery against agreed action plan.
Q. How is the funding made up?
| Food Standards Agency | £1000 |
| Healthy Schools Regional | £50 |
| Healthy Schools Local | £50 |
| Reg Public Health Team | £100 |
| Local area (mandatory) | £100 |
| TOTAL | £1,300 per club |
Q. When do I get it?
Funding will be devolved through the local area lead as below:
- End February 2008 onwards - Information from settings and action plan = £975
- July 2008 - Final report = £325
Q. Is there any help with accounts?
Support for financial matters and action planning will be via the local area lead person.
Q. How much detail does there need to be in the action/budget plan?
Action plan templates and exemplars are available electronically from the local area lead person for What's Cooking? It is important that sessions are planned carefully and include reference to the delivery point for the Core Competencies.
Q. Are there any ideas for ways we can get additional funding?
Your local area will be looking at ways of acquiring match funding (either in cash or kind) from external partners. Each local area and schools have funding for Extended Services delivery. What's Cooking? is an out of school hours project and such forms part of the Varied Menu of Activities part of the Core Offer. In some cases it may be possible to receive some of this funding. Other agencies who are connected to health/obesity may have funding available.
Q. How will I know where it is in the school accounts?
Your local area lead will ask you for a cost code into which to pay your school the funding.
Q. How does the funding have to be spent?
The funding should not be used to pay a co-ordinator. It can be used to pay expenses to chefs; pay people to run sessions in the club. As far as possible the funding should be used in as innovative a way as possible to ensure that club members get the most benefit from attending the club.
Q. Do children have to pay for sessions?
This will depend on the young people involved and the activity being done. Some sessions may be delivered free, while others may need to be charged due to the activity. Some clubs always charge young people a nominal amount. Each school will have a charging policy for out of schools activity - this may be heavily subsidised for some pupils.
Q. What is the average cost of setting up a club?
This varies considerably depending on resources, venues and staffing available. Clubs that run in venues that already have suitable space and equipment will have fewer set up costs.
Q. Is there any more funding after this year?
There is no additional funding from FSA. However, it may be possible to source other funding. A funding guide will be available that will help local authorities and clubs to identify other funding available for this type of work.
For more information about funding, visit our Study Support ETC pages.
Networking
Q. What kind of organisations are involved?
At the beginning of this project we brought together the following from each local authority: extended school remodelling adviser (ESRA), extended schools co-ordinator, study support co-ordinator, healthy schools co-ordinator, community dieticians and other local organisations who work in the food and health arena.
Q. What support is available to keep the momentum going?
At the beginning of this project we brought together the following from each local area: extended school remodelling adviser (ESRA), extended schools co-ordinator, study support co-ordinator, healthy schools co-ordinator. This group is the core support for all the clubs in their area.
Q. How can I support the co-ordinator of the club?
The local area in turn will receive support from the What's Cooking? project manager. Some local areas have brought in other agencies such as family learning in order to widen the support available.
Q. Can I observe any clubs?
Contact your local area lead to observe other clubs in your local authority (with their permission). Your What's Cooking? lead may also be able to arrange visits to clubs in other local areas.
Q. How can I support clubs in my local area?
If you are the local area lead, you will receive support from ContinYou to enable you to do this. If you are from another agency, the What's Cooking? lead in your local area will be delighted to hear from you.
Q. How do I get to know about other projects?
There will also be the opportunity to network regionally or sub-regionally.
Q. Are we going to be able to share ideas?
This will be done at your local area support meetings. Some local areas have already had support/network meetings with their clubs and will continue to do so in order to give clubs the opportunity to share ideas and learn from each other. Support is also available at www.continyou.org.uk/whatscookingnat
Q. Will there be links between clubs and the local area?
There will be local area support meetings.
Delivery
Q. How do we organise within school?
Each club will need a co-ordinator – this does not have to be a teacher and as long as they have a knowledge of what is being delivered they do not have to be present at every session.
Q. Who is responsible for running the club?
The use of staff to run the club should follow the school/local area guidelines for safeguarding children and young people.
Q. How do we start?
If you have not run this kind of club before your local area lead will be able to put you in touch with someone who has experience of this work. There are also downloadable documents at www.continyou.org.uk/whatscookingnat
Q. How often do clubs have to run?
Clubs need to run over a period of time such as a term in order to give real benfit to the young people and as this progresses there needs to be thoughts on how this can be made sustainable.
Q. How many pupils do we have to have in each club?
The numbers attending will depend on venue, staffing available and the skills of the target group.
Q. Do we have to work with the same group of pupils all the year?
You can work with the same group all year or run two or three clubs (perhaps termly) targeting different young people.
By the end of the delivery of the club young people must be familiar with and understand the implications of the core competencies, as set out in the 'Getting to Grips with Grub' report:
- diet and health
- consumer awareness
- food preparation and handling
- food safety.
Q. Can we work with older/younger students?
The core group must be 11 to 14 year olds, but it is possible to work with this group in Year 6 of a primary school (transition project) or with older pupils in the school.
Q. Do we have to include partner schools? How flexible can we be?
The core group that you work with must be aged 11 to 14. As long as you have this you can then, if you wish, work with a) partner primaries on a transition project b) older pupils (special needs?) c) parents/families.
Q. Can I change my action plan?
Action plans may be amended and should then be sent to the local area for approval and onward e-mailing to ContinYou.
Q. Can this be run as part of the school day?
This project is an out-of-school-hours learning (study support) initiative and, as such, is part of the extended services core offer of a wide and varied menu of activities. Clubs should therefore run outside of the school curriculum – the exception to this being special schools and pupil referral units if desired.
Q. Do children receive a certificate?
A certificate of attendance can be provided.
Q. Can staff delivering What's Cooking? be accredited?
Local area leads will have knowledge of accreditation available for young people and staff in your area.
Q. Can this be run in a youth club setting?
Clubs do not have to be run in a school; as long as the venue is covered by health and safety and is conducive to delivery of the project, it can be run in a community setting.
Q. Where does this fit with ECM?
This project also covers the ECM outcomes.
Other questions
Q. Does Asda support this project?
No one supermarket or food provider has committed themselves to the project.
Q. Are there any supermarkets/food providers who have committed themselves to What's Cooking?
You will find, however, that most supermarkets are happy to arrange visits and some will be able to give cash (small amount) or in-kind support. Some businesses have Community programmes where their staff are released to work in the local community - there might be an interested person among them.
Q. How can we involve other organisations?
Your healthy schools co-ordinator will be able to help here as they have a network of organisations.
Q. Are there contacts for visits?
Your healthy schools co-ordinator will be able to help here.
Q. Are there chefs available to help?
You may have a local contact who can help.
Q. How can my school get support/money for better school dinners, snacks, and so on? The Government has instigated a lot of work on this topic, talk to your school cook; healthy schools co-ordinator; food in schools person.
Q. How does the project fit in with the healthy schools award?
Check with your healthy schools co-ordinator how this can fit.
Q. How does this relate to Ofsted?
As part of the delivery of the core offer. The evaluation and final report can be used as evidence of impact for Ofsted and any other initiative/funding bid that requires evidence. You must have a benchmark at the begining from which to measure impact.
Q. What type of assessment do you require?
The evaluation team (EdComs) will be doing a benchmarking questionnaire with pupils. Other questionnaires are available to help you have a starting point for your clubs and at the end be able to gauge the ‘distance travelled’ by young people both in terms of skills and understanding.
Q. How are clubs going to be monitored?
EdComs will be evaluating the East Midlands roll out, detailed information on the evaluation will be presented and available at the Development Day.
Q. Where do I find more information about:
- food hygiene
- nutrition
- food appreciation
- consumer awareness
- 5 a day
Contact your healthy schools co-ordinator, community dietician, environmental health officer.
