Lets cook

Let’s cook How to set up your own cookery club and keep it going Revised February 2007 ContinYou 17 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PJ Copyright © ContinYou 2007 All rights reserved. Except as allowed by law, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher. First published 2006 Revised edition 2007 Printing This pdf is set up ready to print to an A4 desktop printer. Click on ‘File’ and then ‘Print’. You may wish to print the whole document by selecting ‘All’ or you may prefer to specify just a few pages to print. If you are having problems printing from the pdf, try adjusting your printer settings. Click on ‘Page Setup’ or ‘Printer Properties/ Options’. Acknowledgements These materials were written by Jenna Hall, edited by Louise Pile, Tom Sheppard and Carolyn Sugden, designed by Paul Mepham and desktop published by Christine Knight. Contents About Extra Time 4 ContinYou’s work in study support Introduction 5 About this resource What is a cookery club? 6 What happens at cookery clubs Opening doors 9 How to make sure your cookery is inclusive Asking around 11 Who to consult and what to ask them Making the case 13 Showing how cookery clubs can help with school improvement Take your partner 16 Guidance on building partnerships Who’s going to run your club? 18 Who can help and what they need to do Hear all about it! 20 Ideas for promoting your club Show me the money! 23 Help with funding What do we do now? 26 Planning the club’s activities How are we doing? 30 Advice on monitoring and evaluation Finding out more 31 Sources of further information and advice About Extra Time Extra Time describes ContinYou’s approach to study support, also known as out-of-school-hours learning (oshl). This approach aims to: l ensure that high-quality study support activities are within the reach of every child and young person in the UK l provide a wide range of accessible learning opportunities that extend, enrich and promote learning beyond the classroom. Extra Time is also the name for a range of services and resources, provided by ContinYou, which supports the strategic development of study support in schools, local authorities and communities. Study support Study support describes the wide variety of informal learning activities that young people take part in voluntarily outside normal school hours. There is growing evidence that participation in these activities leads to improvements in young people’s self-esteem, and in their attitudes towards learning, achievements, classroom behaviour and school attendance. Since 1992, ContinYou (formerly Education Extra) has been the leading UK not-for-profit organisation promoting and developing the concept of study support. Developing study support activities brings many benefits to schools and communities. These activities contribute to the key strategies for achieving: school improvement and higher standards; better behaviour and attendance; extended school services; creativity and enrichment; workforce remodelling; transition; greater social inclusion; personalised learning; and joined-up children’s services. Schools ETC Schools ETC (extending to communities) is a network for all schools and organisations involved in extending school services. Subscribers to the network receive a quarterly magazine that shares news, policy, good practice, ideas and practical advice on how to improve outcomes through community/ extended services. You can keep up to date with current policy, get inspiration, share success, voice issues and concerns and tell your stories. A subscription to Schools ETC provides: l a quarterly, full-colour magazine l practical advice sheets l free access to Sum-it! and Book-it! (materials for maths and book clubs) l a free membership of Breakfast Club Plus (a breakfast club network) l exclusive access to a subscribers’ award worth £3,000 l discounts on a wide range of ContinYou publications l an e-newsletter for extended schools l invitations to regional networking events. A subscription costs £40 a year. If you join on behalf of a cluster of schools or a group of colleagues, you can claim a five per cent discount (that is, £38 per subscription for a group of at least ten). For more information, call 020 8709 9900 or email jason.barlow@continyou.org.uk. ContinYou publications ContinYou also offers a wide range of publications. For the full list, ring 024 7658 8470, email publications.sales@continyou.org.uk or visit our website at www.continyou.org.uk. ContinYou is grateful for the support of the Department for Education and Skills in producing this resource. This publication is one of a series produced by ContinYou on the following topics: l Breakfast Club Plus l Sum-it! – maths clubs l Book-it! – reading clubs l OwnZone – out-of-school care and learning clubs for students at Key Stage 3 l Moving on – transition clubs. A series of subject-specific mini-guides are also available to download from www.continyou.org.uk/miniguides . Each guide includes top tips, tried and tested ideas and a full resource list. © ContinYou 2007 4 © ContinYou 2007 5 Introduction Welcome to the Extra Time guide to help schools set up cookery clubs and keep them going. Cookery clubs are a great way to help children and young people to learn more about food and healthy living, and to develop and master practical techniques and competencies. What can this guide offer? Whatever your role is – whether you are a headteacher, teacher, learning support assistant, parent, governor or community volunteer – this guide will provide you with all the advice and support you need to establish and sustain a thriving and creative cookery club. The guide is aimed at anyone who is starting up a cookery club or who wants to improve on the provision that they are currently offering. Each section deals with a different issue that you need to consider when you are planning your club, and provides answers to many of the practical questions that you may be facing. In each section you will find mini case studies, top tips and hints on keeping your club going. We know how busy you will be – it’s not practical to expect you to read through the whole of the guide at one sitting, and then to search the internet to find what you need. That’s why we have designed this guide for you to dip into as and when you need to. Whatever stage of development your club is at, we’re sure you’ll find advice and support to help you run a successful cookery club. ContinYou can also offer training to accompany this guide, designed to bring the written word to life. The training is fun, as well as informative. You will hear from people who are already running successful cookery clubs about how they made things work. You will pick up tips for funding, as well as a wealth of other practical hints and suggestions. We will provide a flexible session, tailored to address the specific needs of the group. If there’s something else you need, email us at lets.cook@continyou. org.uk and we’ll do our best to help. How do we know what works? ContinYou is a leading UK educational charity with a comprehensive network of schools and local authorities. Over the past few years, starting long before Jamie Oliver visited a school canteen, ContinYou has received funding from the Department of Health to develop and run clusters of healthy cookery clubs to provide the materials for its Food in Schools Toolkit (www.foodinschools.org). In 2004 ContinYou ran a pilot cookery club programme, supported by the Food Standards Agency in England. This project led to the What’s cooking? written resource, which was aimed at developing clubs for 11 to 14 year olds. This guide is available in both English and Welsh to download from www.continyou.org.uk/whatscooking. Through these projects we have worked with a variety of schools and community settings across the UK to identify what works and what doesn’t. This experience means we know what problems you will face, and we have lots of ideas about how to solve them. Now you know that we have the right credentials to offer this support and advice, have a look through this guide and see how we can help you to realise your vision of delivering an enjoyable, creative and healthy cookery club. Here’s how! St Christopher’s Primary School in Liverpool decided that a healthy cookery club would be a good way to promote a healthy diet among pupils. With the help of existing partners from the city’s Sportslinx programme, the school contacted local nutrition workers, who offered to run short cookery courses to groups of pupils. The partners were also able to advise the club co-ordinator on the suitability of classrooms, and to provide necessary equipment. The weekly after-school sessions were targeted at Year 6 pupils, and involved practical work and theoretical discussions on food hygiene and healthy alternatives – aimed at encouraging members to try new or healthier foods. At the end of the course, members received a certificate of achievement at a celebratory buffet, which they prepared for their families, friends and school staff. The partnership with the nutrition workers led to training opportunities for school staff, who were later able to lead the cookery club themselves, making it sustainable for future years. Other spin-offs have included the children working on the creation of nutritious breakfast club menus, and a Funky Food nutrition club for Year 2 children, during which they prepare food to take home. The club is now funded through the school’s main budget; the school is now considering asking pupils to donate some money towards the cost of the ingredients in order to sustain the club until alternative sponsorship is found. © ContinYou 2007 6 What is a cookery club? You might be forgiven for thinking that a cookery club is simply an extended version of good old-fashioned home economics! But, with a little imagination, this does not have to be the case. Members of a cookery club can expect to learn about wider issues such as healthy living, food labelling, budgeting and shopping, as well as learning how to prepare and cook a wide variety of dishes. Cookery clubs are an ideal way of taking action over growing concerns about children’s obesity, and of increasing awareness and understanding of wider health issues, such as nutrition. Because members will learn specific and transferable skills (such as meal preparation and how to budget and shop effectively), that can be taken back into the family home, your club has the potential to benefit and reach many more people than its core members. You can increase this impact by linking your club’s main aims and objectives to the key messages about healthy lifestyles that are being reinforced during curriculum time, other study support activities and the National Healthy Schools Programme. Studies have repeatedly shown that study support has positive effects on the children who attend, resulting in: l better behaviour l greater concentration l higher achievement l better attendance l improved punctuality l reduced bullying (because there is better communication between children, both within their own age group and between children of different ages) l better social skills and greater confidence over interacting, both with adults and with other children l a greater understanding of the importance of healthy eating/wider health issues l a renewed interest in curriculum subjects l better relationships with family members and the wider community. This guide will take you through how to introduce members to terms such as ‘energy balance’ and to the nuances of food labelling. This will equip them with knowledge about how to make healthy choices about their diet and maintain a healthy weight, and enable them to understand why it’s important: l not to eat too many foods that contain a lot of fat l not to have sugary foods and drinks too often l not to eat too many foods that are high in salt l to eat plenty of foods that are rich in starch and fibre l to eat plenty of different fruit and vegetables. The benefits of cookery clubs are not only limited to club members, schools and the community. Those who are involved in the staffing of the club will also develop their understanding of how cookery clubs can build on and enhance the food and nutrition competencies that are taught through the formal curriculum in both primary and secondary schools. What happens at a cookery club? Cookery clubs offer great opportunities for trying new things, and developing children’s learning and their enthusiasm for new areas of work. Your club can be run in one of a number of different ways to suit the needs of the pupils you are targeting. Top tips! l Tie in with assemblies by asking children to explain to the rest of the school in assembly why healthy eating is important. l Set aside a designated storage space of club equipment – and perhaps ask club members to decorate it. Give some members the opportunity to develop their sense of responsibility by becoming equipment monitors. Different models of delivery Weekly clubs The most popular option for cookery clubs that are part of a traditional study support programme is to hold them weekly. Typically, a weekly club might last about an hour and a half, and alternate between cooking one week and wider activities the other. Examples of activity ideas can be found on pages 26–29. Some clubs charge members for the cost of ingredients, while others are able to go into partnership with local businesses to provide a free club. You will need to decide: l when your club is going to run l how often the sessions will take place l how long they will last. Think about whether it is going to be open all year round or only for half a term at a time. Many of the answers to these questions will be dictated by practicalities specific to your school, such as when a room is available, and what other activities are running already. The ‘Asking around’ chapter will help you to understand how to find out this information. One-off events If you want to find out whether there is any interest in a cookery club in your school/community, or you want to raise the profile of your existing cookery club, you could hold a one-off celebration event or a ‘Cookery Academy’. This is an event that is open to the wider community, including children’s parents/carers, relatives and siblings. Some clubs use it as an opportunity to demonstrate what happens at a cookery club to potential funders and supporters. Why not invite a local celebrity chef or professional cook to run a number of workshops/ interactive tutorials or to do a demonstration? © ContinYou 2007 7 The aim of an Academy is to develop enthusiasm for cooking and provide everyone with an opportunity to try out new skills, while developing a better understanding of how the club members will benefit from an ongoing club. Quite often they follow a specific theme, such as ‘international food’ or ‘celebratory cooking’. If you take the time to plan and run occasional Academies alongside your regular club, this can be a really effective way of gaining support from the wider community and external funders. For more information and examples of how Academies and Food Forums have been run in the past, read the What’s cooking? guide published by the Food Standards Authority. This is available from www.continyou.org. uk/whatscooking. Whether you are running a one-off activity, or you have scheduled a weekly club, you should aim to run quizzes, invite visitors, hold themed sessions, and introduce members to a wide range of foods and cookery techniques. You could try recipes from a wide range of cultures and spend some time looking at where each one comes from and how the recipe was developed. You can also watch films and television programmes to prompt discussions about the food-based messages they are conveying to their audiences, overtly or subliminally. Top tips! Cookery club co-ordinators from the pilot scheme offered this advice: l Make it fun! l Let the students sometimes choose what they would like to cook. l Offer a variety of different foods. l Be prepared for anything to happen – complete a risk analysis before each session. l Use the internet – you’ll find loads of resources. l Give yourself plenty of time for planning. l Use games. What do you need? A cookery club doesn’t need to be based in a sophisticated, state-of-theart kitchen. It is possible to run a successful cookery club from any room that’s big enough to hold a chair for each member and some shared worktop space. Wherever you are holding your club, you will need to ensure you have access to: l running water l cleaning products l waste-disposal facilities l a first-aid box. If you don’t have access to cooking facilities, you can still set up a club – you will just have to limit members to preparing no-cook recipes, such as sandwiches, fruit dishes, salads and smoothies. Top tips! l Ask members to bring in equipment from home, such as plastic boxes, aprons and nonsharp cutlery. If they can take food home with them at the end of the session to share with their families and friends, this may encourage them to contribute to the club’s equipment. l Remember, you can use household measures, such as ‘a cup of’ or ‘a tablespoon of’, instead of weighing things out on scales. What would your club benefit from? If space and funding/resources allow, you will find the following items essential for your cookery club: l cooking facilities (including a kettle, a fridge, cutlery, crockery, hot and cold running water, cleaning products and waste-disposal facilities) l cooking equipment (cooking hobs and an oven, a whisk/blender, utensils, mixing bowls, heat-proof dishes, measuring spoons, weighing scales, baking trays, serving dishes, aprons, recipe books, oven gloves) l tried and tested recipes, as well as worksheets and session plans – you will find some examples of all of these at www.continyou.org.uk/ whatscooking. Health and safety Ensuring the health and safety of your members is essential in all study support clubs. However, cookery clubs naturally pose greater risks than other clubs, particularly if your members are keen to try out new things. The health and safety pages of the Study Support ETC website provide all you need to know to get started (www.continyou. org.uk/studysupportetc). In advance of club sessions, make sure that: l the kitchen, floor space, utensils and all equipment are clean l all surfaces are disinfected l the fridge is working properly – the coldest part of the fridge should be between 0°C and 5°C l all perishable foods are chilled l there are enough oven gloves so that everyone has access to a pair. During the session, make sure that: l pupils wear clean clothes and wear aprons over their clothing l pupils wash their hands before starting to handle food, and after handling raw meat, fish or eggs l you don’t lay out perishable foods at room temperature too far in advance l all spills on the floor are wiped up immediately l saucepan handles are not sticking out over the edge of cookers. Who’s it for? Study support activities tend to attract well-motivated and more able learners. There is evidence to show that taking part in extended services provides disaffected pupils, or those at risk of exclusion, with an opportunity to re-engage with learning and a way back into succeeding in school. © ContinYou 2007 8 Think about what types of pupils you want to attract – you might decide you want to give priority to: l pupils who are at risk of exclusion l pupils with special educational needs or other additional needs l pupils who have low self-esteem, poor motivation or a history of under-achievement l pupils who come from less advantaged backgrounds l pupils who come from particular ethnic backgrounds l either boys or girls l pupils who are about to transfer from primary to secondary school l pupils about whose health you have concerns. Targeting particular pupils doesn’t mean that you are preventing other pupils from taking part. You just need to reserve a proportion of places for targeted pupils, while offering the rest on an open-access basis. Keeping it going If the format seems tired, attendance is dropping, or you don’t feel the club is achieving all it could, then change it! Don’t be afraid to start again from scratch. Perhaps it’s the ideal time to hold that Academy you have been thinking about. © ContinYou 2007 9 Opening doors Having decided that you want to set up a cookery club, you will need to identify what will attract pupils to it in the first place, and what will keep them coming back for more. Has a particular group of pupils expressed an interest in learning more about food and food competencies and/or international cultures, or have you been asked to contribute to your school’s achievement of Healthy School status? Thinking about, and taking time to find out, why some people will find it harder to attend your club is an essential part of your planning. It will help to make your club as inclusive as possible, and may make all the difference between success and failure. Whether you are planning on targeting a particular group, or are hoping to operate on an open-access basis, it is important you think about how you will do the following: l involve pupils – help them to feel that the club belongs to them by asking them what they want from the club (see the ‘Asking around’ section; ContinYou’s extended services website also provides information and support on consultation: www.continyou.org.uk/ consultation). Find out what they expect to achieve from joining the club. l offer a menu of activities – try to offer a good mixture of activities so that there is something for everyone. If you are targeting a particular group, ask them what activities would entice them to attend, and do your best to accommodate their wishes. Either way, ensure that the activities you offer and the foods you prepare are relevant to members’ cultures or interests. Make sure that you give pupils feedback about whether/how you are acting on their suggestions. l get the timing right – this is a critical factor. You need to think about how long you realistically need to produce the kinds of results you are looking for. Remember to consider both the session length and the frequency of sessions per term. l get the place right – where you hold your club can make a difference to the number of pupils who attend. You will need access to some specific equipment (see page 7), but, wherever you end up, ensure that you: – develop a club identity in the space you are using (posters offer a cheap and simple way of doing this) – are aware of how many people you can comfortably fit into the room – set aside an area for club members to display some of their work or photos of club activities – this gives a sense of pride and ownership and is also an excellent way to attract other pupils l recognise members’ achievements – there are lots of ways of doing this, depending on whether you have any money available. A certificate or a letter home or to their class tutor, recognising what they have achieved or praising their behaviour, can have the same effect as an endof- term party, or a CD/book token or other gift. You could also ask pupils to vote for who should receive prizes. l encourage parents to support the club – try to ensure that you keep parents well informed about the club. Reassure them about who’s running it, why it’s happening, what activities will be on offer, and what arrangements will be made when the club is not running. Getting parents on board can have a big influence on the number of pupils who join the club. The ‘Asking around’ section (page 11) will provide you with more information on how to go about finding out what your members need and want, and what to do with that information once you have gathered it. Targeting Whether you are hoping to target a particular group or not, it is likely that the members of your cookery club will have a range of experience and skills in the kitchen. Some young people cook regularly, either for themselves or for other people at home, while others may not be familiar or confident with the basics. Whoever comes to your club, it can be a good idea to encourage members to work in pairs or small groups – this not only helps them to learn from one another, but also provides an opportunity for them to develop their communication and leadership skills. Keeping it going After a while, speak to pupils who don’t come to the club or those who have left it. Find out what stopped them from coming – whether there were practical, emotional, financial or other reasons. You may be surprised by the factors that make a difference to whether someone comes or not. Top tip! Encourage pupils to get involved in the running of the cookery club. You could ask them to take responsibility for specific tasks, such as arranging the room, serving food, or collecting ingredients or money. You could create a mentoring system, with older members supporting younger ones. In addition, it is worth asking a couple of members to contribute to, or attend, some of the steering group meetings. © ContinYou 2007 10 Here’s how! Neither the profound special needs of the pupils, nor the transport difficulties involved in covering a wide rural catchment area, prevented Sandgate Special School in Kendal from setting up an after-school Supper Club. Students from different years within the school are actively involved in shaping what happens at the club. Each week one student has the chance to influence the menu, with the inclusion of some of their favourite foods, as well as to choose the background music. After preparing the food, all staff and students sit to share the meal together. A major benefit of the club for members, in addition to gaining a better understanding of healthy eating, has been the opportunity to have social time with other pupils after school, which is not always possible for practical reasons. Working as part of a cluster of local authority schools has enabled the school to build new partnerships. This has led to students from Sandgate being invited to join the cookery club at a nearby secondary school, and other secondary school students volunteering at the club as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Sandgate Special School prides itself in developing practice to include all pupils. Targeted activities have included developing a lunchtime multisensory approach that focuses on students with profound learning difficulties and multiple difficulties, whose primary feeding is via a tube, and a Saturday club for those whose travel plans do not enable them to attend the weekday club. © ContinYou 2007 11 Your club is more likely to succeed if you consult with your target group and their families. It would also be beneficial to pick up tips from other study support co-ordinators. By finding out what other clubs are running and who goes to them, and asking your own pupils what, if anything, they would like your club to provide that’s different, you will be able to identify what your club should offer to its members. It is important that consultation is seen as ongoing, two-way communication. It is not only an opportunity to review what has gone before, and a chance to influence the future, but also a channel that you can use to share current information and developments. You will need to think about the best way of collecting information from those you consult, but questions you might ask include: l What activities should be provided? l What would make the club attractive and enjoyable? l When’s the best time to run the club? l Who should run it? l What do you want to achieve? l Who else might be interested or want to get involved? l What else could you offer? Why bother? A programme based on information gathered from a range of groups has a much better chance of surviving than one that is based on guesswork because: l by involving pupils in planning the activities, you will give them a greater sense of ownership and commitment to the club l it will give you some insight into pupils’ interests, perspectives and expectations l it will help you to identify a suitable target group l it will help you to identify what pupils need and to set learning objectives for the programme l it will enable you to establish support networks that may be able to help you with information, resources and, possibly, funding Asking around l it will help to ensure that your ideas fit within the strategic plans of your school and local authority (LA), and of partner organisations and agencies l it will enable you to identify interests and skills that you can use in the club. Who should you consult? You need to identify who the main stakeholders and key partners of your club will be. Who these are will vary from school to school, depending on your priorities. You don’t need to consult everyone, but try to get a good cross-section of views. As well as speaking to pupils, their families and other staff within your school, think about approaching: l the senior management team l family learning co-ordinators l school governors l LA strategy managers l extended services co-ordinators/extended schools managers l the school meals service l healthy school co-ordinators l nutritionists and dieticians l community groups l local statutory agencies l local primary care trust/GPs l local transport providers l ‘safe route to school’ groups l possible partners, such as supermarkets, shops and businesses. When approaching so many people, it is likely that you will get some conflicting answers and opinions. You will need to consider how you will manage people’s expectations, meet your main aims and objectives and satisfy the needs of your funders. This might all sound quite daunting at first, but, as long as you remember to provide feedback, you will generally find that people are pleased to have been asked and involved and will continue to support the development of the club. How should you consult people? How you consult depends on who you consult. Consultation is not just about questionnaires and surveys. The best way of finding out what parents think might be to hold a discussion during a parents’ evening or at another event. On the other hand, if you want to discuss your plans with prospective partners, it might be better to approach them individually with a phone call or visit. If you take the time to work out how to consult with each group, you will receive a much higher proportion of responses. Remember to think also about how you are going to report back to people on what you found out. Think about when you will do this, and what format, style and language you will use. Involving pupils Practical ways in which you can encourage pupils to get involved in the club’s development include the following: l Ask them to come up with a catchy name for their programme. l Run a competition to design a logo. l Invite potential members to design a T-shirt. l Encourage a group of members to take responsibility for raising additional funds to generate their own budget for ‘extras’, such as end-of-scheme parties or treats. l Involve them in monitoring and evaluation, and shaping future programmes, by asking for feedback (see the ‘How are we doing?’ section for further details). l Set up a working group of pupils to generate publicity. Encourage them to think about ways of getting stories into school newspapers, and on to noticeboards and the events pages of websites. © ContinYou 2007 12 Keeping it going Don’t be scared to ask whether you are getting it right! You might be surprised – and, as long as you don’t make rash promises to change the whole club overnight, members will continue to feel included throughout the club’s life. Top tips! There are lots of ways that you can make it fun for young people – and others – to give you their views about setting up a cookery club. You could try: l focus groups l graffiti walls l suggestion boxes l online surveys l face-to-face meetings l playground questionnaires l school gate questionnaires. Top tips! l Ask community partners how the activities of the club will tie in with their own objectives, and how they might be able to offer expertise or resources (this information can also add value to future funding applications). l Visit www.continyou.org.uk/ studysupportetc for more information on consultation and needs analysis. l Have a look at ‘Engaging young people in evaluation and consultation’, found at www.nof.org.uk, for more help on consulting pupils. Here’s how! Caldecote is an inner-city community primary school, where local dietitians are based in the school. Their expertise was used to offer a weekly after-school Cook and Eat club in the school’s newly refurbished breakfast room. The aim of the club was to show children at an early age that eating healthily can be easy and fun. Pupils prepared and cooked recipes from a special ‘Cook and Eat’ pack, which they each received. This also contained information and activities on food hygiene and good health. Having cooked the food at the club, everyone would then sit down together to eat it. Initially funded by New Deal for Communities, the club was run by the community dietician and community food worker. Their involvement in the running of the club and the expertise they could offer were seen by the headteacher as integral to the success of the club, which regularly had high attendance rates. As the club has developed, other schools in the area have also become involved. © ContinYou 2007 13 Taking time to understand the wider benefits of study support will help you to convince funders, your senior management team and the community that they, as well as the members, will benefit from the club. It will be important to set study support, and the cookery club in particular, in the context of the school’s overall aims. For example, how does it contribute to the ‘core offer’ of extended services? How will a cookery club help your school to reach some of its key performance targets? Can a cookery club help the members to increase their levels of achievement in a range of curriculum subjects? Together, the examples in this section, and others specific to your setting, will combine to convince others to invest time, energy, support and, hopefully, money, into the club. Research has repeatedly shown the benefits of pupils attending study support activities (see ‘What is a cookery club?’). What funders, partners, senior managers, parents, and policy makers want to know, however, is: how will the cookery club link with new and existing initiatives, such as the school development plan and the National Healthy Schools Programme? How will it supplement and develop curriculum learning and raise standards in the school? Without a doubt, cookery clubs can extend learning opportunities and levels of achievement for all children across all key stages. The flexible nature of cookery clubs means that they can be designed to provide a wide range of curriculum extension activities, tailored to the needs of your member group. Whatever kind of cookery club you decide to run, it will naturally provide opportunities for learning in areas such as health, science and life skills. Many of the activities also provide opportunities to build on and develop levels of achievement in basic maths and literacy. You can use this section to find ways of adding value to your club by making links with the curriculum, and with educational and social policies and initiatives. Making the case Curriculum and initiative links Your club will naturally link to the curriculum for maths, science, citizenship, English, and design and technology – and perhaps to other curriculum areas as well. It will be up to you, as the club co-ordinator, to decide how explicit you will make these links. You will need to judge this according to the students you are targeting and the aims and objectives of your provision. The section ‘What do we do now?’ focuses on activities you could run, and provides a range of ideas for activities that link with different stages of development within the school. These can also reinforce wider opportunities for learning. The potential links with the curriculum and new/existing government initiatives are endless. However, whatever you and your members decide to do on a weekly basis, it is likely that you will be contributing to meeting the targets of the initiatives listed on the next page. Top tips! l Find out which key topics pupils are studying each term and link some of your cookery club activities to these. l Recognise special cultural or religious days by adapting the recipes and activities. l Create a library for your club, containing recipe books, information on food and nutrition and appropriate poems. l The Curriculum Online website provides an online searchable version of the national curriculum. The information contained on this site will help you to identify what your club members will be studying and when. Try to find out more from the class teachers themselves, as they will be able to share lesson plans and further, more specific, information with you: www.curriculumonline.gov.uk. © ContinYou 2007 14 Initiative Overview of this initiative How cookery clubs can contribute Five Year Strategy www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/ 5yearstrategy/ Pupil support www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/ guidanceonthelaw/11-99/ 11-99.htm Teaching assistants www.teachernet.gov.uk/ wholeschool/teachingassistants/ Whole-school approach to healthy living www.teachernet.gov.uk/whole school/healthyliving/whole schoolapproach/ This puts a clear focus on children, learners, parents and employers – not just in setting out what schools will offer, but in designing ways of doing it that promote personalisation and choice. Setting up sustainable and high-quality study support opportunities, such as cookery clubs, can contribute to the aims of the strategy. Ensuring that the content of your cookery club links with, and builds on, the lessons being taught during the school day, will lead to standards within the school increasing. Choosing health (Department of Health, White Paper) www.dh.gov.uk (Search the ‘Publications’ section of the site for ‘White paper – Choosing health’) This sets ambitious targets for improving the health of the nation, for saving 300,000 lives over the next ten years and for closing the health gap between the rich and the poor. It examines how schools can take a holistic approach to help pupils eat sensibly and stay physically active. If your club reinforces messages about healthy living, energy balance and safe food preparation, it will be helping to reach this paper’s targets. This aims to promote social inclusion, and to reduce truancy and exclusion. Study support activities have repeatedly been shown to increase levels of attainment and to boost attendance. By targeting your club at the needs of a particular group of pupils, you will be able to tackle a range of issues. This initiative aims to support the recruitment and training of teaching assistants. Your cookery club can provide an ideal opportunity to develop the skills and interests of community members and other school staff who may be interested in becoming a teaching assistant. The DfES wants schools to give pupils consistent messages about all aspects of health issues, using a whole-school approach, helping them understand the effect of particular behaviour on health, and encouraging them to be responsible for their own health. This site gives links to the British Nutrition Foundation site. A cookery club can support the initiative through focusing on issues to do with healthy eating. Every Child Matters www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/ Extended Schools www.teachernet.gov.uk/ wholeschool/extendedschools/ teachernetgovukcoreoffer/ This aims to protect children at risk of harm and neglect and to support all children to enable them to develop their full potential. There are five identified outcomes: be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being. A cookery club, as part of your study support programme, undoubtedly contributes to the five outcomes. As part of the ‘core offer’ of extended services in and around schools, schools need to develop and deliver the following range of services by 2010: a varied menu of study support and childcare activities, parenting support, swift and easy referral and providing wider community access. If run regularly, your cookery club can contribute to all elements of the ‘core offer’ – for example, by ensuring that: the club runs outside of the core day; where appropriate, parents and the community are encouraged to take part; staff are briefed on how to deal with any disclosures; staff are suitably qualified to supervise children. Personalised learning www.standards/dfes.gov.uk/ personalisedlearning/ The aim of personalised learning is to ensure that every child realises his or her full potential, and to narrow the achievement gaps between different groups of pupils. It means a tailored education for every child, which takes account of their needs, offers them opportunities, and supports them to flourish and progress in their learning. Cookery clubs, and study support more generally, form a key strategy within personalised learning and can support personalisation, not least by offering all children access to subjects and activities they are interested in, beyond the school day. Healthy Schools www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk This initiative aims to: l support children and young people in developing healthy forms of behaviour l help raise pupils’ achievements l help reduce health inequalities l help promote social inclusion. By 2009 all schools are expected to be accredited under the National Healthy Schools Programme. It has four main themes: personal, social and health education; healthy eating; physical activity; emotional health and well-being (including tackling bullying). Each aim can be targeted through your cookery club. © ContinYou 20067 15 The DfES wants schools to give pupils consistent messages about all aspects of health issues through a whole-school approach to health, helping them understand the effect of particular behaviours on their own health, and encouraging them to take responsibility for their own health. This site provides links to the British Nutrition Foundation site. Here’s how! The Queen Katherine High School in Cumbria has been running a cookery club for more than four years. The club is provided as part of a wider programme to prepare sixth-form students for living on their own in student accommodation or elsewhere. A ‘balanced eating’ working party, incorporating teaching and non-teaching staff, students, parents and governors is involved in overseeing this and other healthy eating initiatives in the school. Activities are designed to teach students how to buy and prepare economical but nutritious food. This offers students an alternative to ready-made meals, and a chance to develop skills in which they can take pride. The club takes place in the food technology department, using ordinary domestic appliances. It is staffed by members of that department. Each week the focus is on a particular element of theory. Students prepare a dish which is an example of this, and then take it home and eat it. Feedback has shown that students enjoyed learning life skills that would help them to live independently. They saw this as a major step in preparing them for university life and managing a budget – directly linking to three of the five Every Child Matters outcomes of ‘being healthy’, ‘enjoying and achieving’, and ‘achieving economic well-being’. © ContinYou 2007 16 Take your partner ‘The quality of study support will, in the final analysis, be directly related to the partnerships it creates and encourages. Active partnerships are the key to the long-term sustainability of study support.’ (Study support code of practice, DfES/QiSS, 2004) Effective partnerships are a vital part of successful study support activities. They add value by offering opportunities to those involved that might not otherwise be available. Good partnerships don’t just happen though; they need to be managed and worked at. So why bother? By working with partners, you will introduce a new dimension to your cookery club, widening the opportunities available to your pupils and staff, and developing lasting relationships that stand the school in good stead in the future. Good partnerships will benefit everyone involved. The following summary gives an idea of what you might expect. The benefits for pupils can include: l a wider variety of learning techniques and opportunities l the chance to work with role models from a variety of backgrounds l access to equipment or resources that would not normally be available to them – for instance, alternative ingredients, recipes, site visits l opportunities to increase their knowledge and understanding of the community, and to develop citizenship skills. The benefits for schools can include: l the opportunity for staff to acquire new skills l the chance to make the most of community resources l the opportunity to use new equipment or resources that they can adapt for use within the school l the building of new and innovative networks of support l the raising of the school’s profile within the community l access to new resources and funding opportunities l new partnerships with other schools in the area. The benefits for partners can include: l the opportunity to gain new skills and knowledge by working alongside school staff l the chance to tackle shared agendas l a higher profile in the local community l a better take-up of local services l better links with a range of other agencies l a greater appreciation in the community of the services that they provide. When planning your cookery club, you should consider which partners can add value and variety to your activities. Top tip! Identify your local healthy schools co-ordinator and work with him or her to ensure that your club complements your school’s food and health policies. Your club’s outcomes and outputs will provide valuable contributions to the evidence needed for your school to gain accreditation as a healthy school. Visit www.lhsp.org for more information on the Healthy Schools programme in your area. There are plenty of individuals and organisations that can offer you advice and support, including: l those running other clubs and activities within your school and community l other schools and colleges – students following FE courses on health, food or nutrition may want to volunteer to help you to run your cookery club l parents and grandparents l community groups l school meals services l local voluntary groups and charities l local libraries, museums and galleries l sports and arts organisations l local and regional healthy schools co-ordinators l local food suppliers, supermarkets and shops l school sports co-ordinators l local businesses/education–business partnerships l local authority agencies, such as youth services, health services and emergency services l local FE colleges l local religious and cultural groups. An evaluation of the study support grant scheme (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/ studysupport/docs/partners), which looked at study support partnerships between schools and the community, found that the most successful partnerships were characterised by: l well-led multi-agency teams l joint planning l shared objectives, with sustainability in mind l a clear rationale of why each partner was involved l clear communication between all parties l regular review and reporting l sensitivity to staffing and management demands l awareness of the welfare of young people and the concerns of parents. © ContinYou 2007 17 Here’s how! Grove Street Primary School in the Wirral has a catchment area with higher than average unemployment and rates of free school meals. The school worked with Wirral Healthy Communities to run its annual health week, involving parents and children in joint activities. This partnership led to the development of family cookery clubs, involving Year 6 pupils and their parents. During its first year, the club was run from the adjacent community village hall, before moving to the school’s community coffee bar. Wirral Healthy Communities was able to support the club with tutors and equipment that was not available in the school. This positive partnership meant that there was no charge to the school for the tutors or for the community hall. The success of the programme was obvious from the enjoyment of pupils and their families during the sessions – and from evidence that the skills and ideas learnt in the sessions were being shared with others and used outside school. Certificates were given to parents and pupils at the end of the programme. As a sign of their enjoyment and appreciation, parents bought gifts for those running the sessions. An added bonus stemming from the school’s existing partnership with a local swimming pool was that it was able to award free family swimming passes to the families that took part. Top tips! l When approaching partners, make it clear what added value their involvement will bring to the club and how pupils will benefit from it. l When asking for support, don’t forget to link what you want to achieve with a benefit for the partner – stress how it links with their own objectives. Other sources of information on partnerships can be found in the following documents: l Partners for study support grant programme: good practice guide (DfES, 2004) l The study support toolkit: making it work in schools (DfES, 2000) l Building the future of learning (Big Lottery Fund, 2004) l Working in partnership to support families (www.continyou.org.uk/ partnerships). Keeping it going Send your partners letters from club members and copies of any newsletters you produce. Invite them to attend events and give out certificates. These simple steps celebrate their involvement in the club and will remind them that you are there. Your invitation might be reciprocated with the chance to attend a large networking event and you never know who you might meet there. © ContinYou 2007 18 Who’s going to run your club? Once you have decided what you want your club to achieve, and how you want to organise it, you will need to think about the best people to run it. This doesn’t always have to mean qualified home economics teachers – some of the most successful clubs are run by community volunteers or other school staff. There are a number of distinct roles in setting up and sustaining any study support club. The most important thing is that everyone involved is clear about their individual responsibilities and that they communicate well with each other. Co-ordinating the club A designated co-ordinator will be responsible for ensuring that the club is developed to meet its objectives and to enrich and extend pupils’ learning. This person is often, though not always, the same person who organises the activities. Typically the co-ordinator might be responsible for: l planning activities l identifying the target group l staffing l premises l marketing and promotion l reporting to funders l liaison with the senior management team, governors and others l health and safety l child protection issues l monitoring and evaluation l forging appropriate links with the community. The steering group It is not essential to have a formal steering group for your cookery club, but you should ensure that you have a nominated co-ordinator and a wide range of people who can support him or her with running the club. This group might include school governors, members of the senior management team, pupils, parents and carers. Whoever you include, it’s important to keep the group to a manageable size – but try to include a cross-section of stakeholders, including club members, senior school staff and partners. Top tip! Contact your local Education–Business Partnership (www.nebpn.org.uk) to see whether local businesses have staff with food hygiene qualifications and CRB disclosures who would be interested in volunteering at the club on a regular basis. Some of the major supermarkets and food retailers encourage their staff members to participate in community volunteering initiatives. Organising the activities Remember to think creatively about who else could be involved in organising your club’s activities. Your club should aim to focus on the wider aspects of food and nutrition, such as food labelling, energy balance, and the food cycle, in addition to concentrating on preparation and cookery techniques. To achieve this, think about involving a range of adults in running the club, such as teaching assistants, lunchtime supervisors, older students, parents, youth workers, local employers, professional guest tutors (chefs, farmers, athletes) or other members of the community. Ask the pupils who they would like to help run the club. Remember to work out who is responsible for: l organising the club space l setting up and putting away furniture, resources and other equipment l keeping records of attendance and monitoring these l delivering the agreed programme of activities l overseeing health and safety l liaising with guest speakers and others from outside the school. By involving staff from a variety of backgrounds to run the activities, you can add value to the experiences of both pupils and staff, as: l it provides a more varied mix of ideas, skills and talents l pupils gain a broader insight into life outside the school l staff have an opportunity to develop new skills and to try new teaching methods l pupils have the chance to work alongside adult role models from a variety of backgrounds in a non-threatening environment l older pupils have the opportunity to develop mentoring and leadership skills l it promotes stronger links between the school and parents/other members of the community l it reduces the pressure on teaching staff l pupils gain a better understanding of cultural differences l pupils have the chance to see parents and staff working in different environments. Support from senior management Getting the support of the headteacher or other member of the senior management team will make a difference to the success of your programme. Experience shows that activities are more likely to be sustained when the headteacher or another senior manager is involved and supports the project. Top tip! Ask your headteacher or the senior management team to help with: l finding funding l incorporating the club into the whole-school ethos l finding solutions to staffing problems l promoting the club and giving it credibility. © ContinYou 2007 19 Recognising commitment Don’t forget to spend some time acknowledging the contribution of everyone involved in running your club. Staff will be much happier about putting in extra time if they feel that their effort is genuinely valued. Top tips! l Suggest that club members write personal letters of thanks. l Ask pupils to organise an end-of-scheme celebration/ thank-you party. If school staff help with the club, you may need to consider how you reimburse them for their time. Some will be happy to help on a voluntary basis, but you may need to offer payment to others, or to recognise their contribution in some other way. Discuss possible options with your headteacher. You might want to see whether there is scope for using directed time, or for giving time off in lieu. For further detailed information on paying and rewarding school staff, look at Study support: the handbook (DfES, 2000). Involvement in planning and running cookery club activities can also count towards the accreditation of professional development, such as NVQs. What do we do about …? There are many other questions and areas that you will need to consider when employing and recruiting staff for your club. Most of the answers will be specific to your school, senior management team or local authority. Others will depend on whether you are: l running the club in a school or in a community building l operating as a childcare facility or as an open-access club l working with partner organisations on a day-to-day basis l a registered charity with your own constitution. It would be impossible to give all the answers to all the possible questions here; however, the section ‘Finding out more’ (page 31) provides you with links and information on other organisations who can help. Meanwhile, you will need to consider and discuss the following areas before the club can begin operating safely: l Food hygiene – how many people need to be qualified? If you are working with a caterer, are they qualified? Who is responsible for organising training and paying for it? l Health and nutrition – the NCFE Certificate in Nutrition and Health may be available to staff through a local college. Ensuring that your staff are fully qualified and have a significant amount of knowledge about food and nutrition will not only lead to a higher quality club for your members, but will also provide professional development opportunities for staff. Training will obviously be dependent on what funding you have available. So be prepared to start small and work towards registering on longer, more complex courses. l Health and safety – including first aid, risk assessments (daily and periodical), fire escapes and action plans. Remember to provide a firstaid kit, and identify a first aider. Log on to www.continyou.org.uk/ studysupportetc. The DfES guidance Safe keeping provides detailed information and good practice on health and safety in relation to study support activity and provision. Visit www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/study support/docs/safekeep. l Training – contact your local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership/local authority to see what courses they offer. l Criminal Records Bureau – do you need to get enhanced or basic disclosures for your staff? How long will these be valid? l Adult:child ratio – what is the agreed figure? Is it different for childcare and study support? The publication Safe keeping (DfES, 2000) offers guidance on this. l Ofsted – all extended services face review, through the Ofsted Framework (September 2005). However, whether your club needs to register as an individual provision will depend on the service you are providing. Consult the Ofsted website for more information (www.ofsted.gov.uk). Keeping it going If you have a quick turnover of staff, this can lead to sustainability problems. Reward staff for their commitment, and value their input at all times. Make strong links with parents and teachers so that, if you do hit a sticky patch, you will have lots of helpful hands to call on in an emergency. © ContinYou 2007 20 Hear all about it! There will be various times during the life of your cookery club when you will want to tell others about what’s been happening. Promoting your club effectively will help to attract pupils, as well as raise the profile of the club once it is up and running. Funders, your senior management team, governors and the LA will also want to hear about how the club is developing. Before deciding how you will promote your activities, ask yourself the following questions to help you decide on the most effective way of reaching the right people: l Why do you want to tell people about the club? l Who needs to know? l What do they need to know? l What else can be gained from publicising the club? l How can you involve the club members? l What are the best ways of publicising the club? Top tips! l Your most effective marketing tool is your club members. Their enthusiasm and experiences will be the most convincing way of telling others what you are achieving and of persuading them to support what you are doing. l Help families to plan what they need to bring to the club and whet members’ appetites by sending home information about forthcoming activities and recipes. If necessary, include a list of ingredients/equipment the members need to bring with them. Depending on who you want to reach and why, you could try a number of different ways to promote the club. You will need to bear in mind how much money you have and what support you can expect from your partners. For example, you could: l devise a catchy name and a logo for the club l produce club badges, caps or T-shirts l produce laminated membership cards promoting the ethos/aims of the club l hold a ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ event to raise funds, promote the club and attract new members/staff l provide attendance certificates l produce flyers and posters to distribute and to display in classes and school communal areas l publicise the club in the local media, such as newspapers, radio and youth clubs l produce flyers or newsletters for parents, or run information events for them l run a food tasting evening in partnership with your local supermarket/retailer – perhaps tie it in with the launch of a new range l put on performances, presentations and displays arising from club activities l contribute articles to local authority or governors’ newsletters. Top tips! l Even companies not associated with food need to raise their profile within the community. If financial support is unlikely, ask for donations for items such as T-shirts, caps and badges. l The benefit to your funders is potentially immense. Offer to promote them to parents, to make posters about them, to mention them in press releases and to have their logo on display. This saves the company money from their promotional budget and therefore releases more for them to pass on to you! Remember, you don’t always need to have a big ‘news’ story to get a mention in the local paper. A photo opportunity such as an end-of-term party, a special visitor, or a trip can be all you need to attract interest. ‘Sustained growth and access to resources will depend on good communication with multiple audiences.’ (Study support code of practice, DfES/QiSS, 2004) Top tip! l Get to know the schools’ correspondent at your local paper. Keeping it going l Don’t be complacent about what you have achieved. Shout it from the roof tops! The most common mistake when marketing study support activities is that people play down their everyday routine. What you are doing is remarkable, even if you do it five times a week! l Send press releases regularly and place posters in community locations. This will aid your sustainability in the future, as people will already be aware of the good work you have done. (Remember to mention current funders and partners in your marketing!) Press releases Here are some golden rules for writing a good press release: l Newspaper editors cut copy from the bottom up – get your message across in the first paragraph. l Make sure that it covers all the basic information: who, why, when, where and how. l Avoid self-praise. l Keep it punchy and factual. Don’t use flowery language. Present only information that is correct and that cannot be misinterpreted. l Remember to date your press release and to send it on headed paper with a large ‘Press release’ heading at the top. © ContinYou 2007 21 l If you would like the media to visit your club or attend a related event, or if you are offering a photo opportunity, aim to send your press release to the media at least two weeks in advance. l If you have high-quality photos that you can offer the media, then include that information in the press release, preferably under the ‘Notes to editors’ section. l Always follow up your press release with a ‘ring round’ to the people you sent it to, to make sure that they have received it and to get an idea of who might be interested in covering the story. Developing longer-term links with your local newspaper can also bring benefits. Pupils could work alongside journalists, designers and editors to produce a special supplement. This is good publicity for the school, and pupils gain valuable work-based experience. A sample press release is provided on this page. For further advice and information, see www.press-release-writing.com. Top tips! l Encourage members to keep a group folder of plans, pictures, videos, posters, presentations and other items they have produced, charting the progress they have made in projects and activities. This is an important tool to help pupils reflect on their experiences and their learning. Pupils should choose the format most appropriate for them. l Pupils could put up a display or write a news sheet about their activity or project. As well as telling other people about what they have been doing, this also give them a chance to develop new skills. Press release Sleepy Town High School in Quietford has just set up a study support club with a difference. The activities on offer at the ‘Let’s Cook’ cookery club have been designed by the students, giving them the opportunity not only to ‘hang out’ with their friends in a safe environment but also to learn essential life skills and to develop key cookery competencies at the same time! Speaking just before the first session, Let’s Cook! co-ordinator Jane Cook said: ‘Many of our students and their families are unsure about how to cook basic dishes, let alone a whole meal. Our Let’s Cook! club aims to enable members to learn new skills that they can share with their families when they go home, as well as providing them with a fun, safe place to be outside of the main school day. The club is a core part of our extended services programme. ‘Each week we will be focusing on a different activity, type of food, or recipe. We won’t necessarily cook something hot every week, as we hope to introduce members to a wide range of dishes and teach them a range of transferable skills. The focus will definitely be on what they can take home, both edible goodies and knowledge. We hope that they will also make new friends, develop peer support and become interested in being healthy. All this whilst having fun!’ Jane Cook went on to say: ‘We asked parents and pupils what they wanted from an after-school club and that helped to shape what we now offer. A student committee will organise new activities, ensuring that Let’s Cook! stays fresh and offers what the kids want. Some exciting community partnerships will lead to great new opportunities for our pupils in the future. We have set up partnerships with the local supermarket and a local baker, so we can do occasional field trips to understand budgeting and the commercial side of food preparation and storage. We hope to run celebrity chef Acadamies in the future.’ Let’s Cook! is currently open on Thursdays from 3.30pm until 5pm. A small fee is charged to cover costs. Together with the daily breakfast club, Let’s Cook! offers the parents of pupils at Sleepy Town High School affordable and reliable safe spaces for their children, outside of the main school day, leaving parents free to go to work. For further information regarding the Let’s Cook! club, please contact Jane Cook on 01234 567890. Notes to editors 1 Photos taken at Let’s Cook! are available from Jane Cook on request. 2 Let’s Cook! is a flexible model for study support cookery clubs. It was designed by community learning charity ContinYou to help schools provide study support activities for pupils at primary or secondary school. © ContinYou 2007 22 Here’s how! The Cook-it! Club at George Stephenson High School in North Tyneside is promoted through the school and beyond as part of a whole-school approach to healthy eating. Learning focuses on health and hygiene, budgeting and understanding the ‘Five a Day’ message. Members are involved in all aspects of the club, including choosing what recipes to cook, planning and preparing the food, and designing their own recipes. The school does all it can to encourage members to attend – there are posters up around the school and teachers give regular reminders in class. But the promotion doesn’t stop there. When the school approached local supermarkets and businesses to seek funding, this offered further opportunities for promotion. Club members have also taken part in weeklong activities during the school holidays, with an opportunity to meet students from other clubs and share experiences. This culminated in a day trip to St James’ Stadium to watch professional chefs demonstrate their culinary skills and to get fresh ideas for new recipes. © ContinYou 2007 23 Show me the money! So you know what you want from your cookery club, you know there are dozens of young people who want to sign up, but how are you going to pay for it and sustain it? Getting funding together can seem daunting, but it needn’t be. This section will provide you with some hints on writing a successful funding application, as well as with ideas about who to approach for support and some tips on managing the funds once you’ve got them. Where do I start? If you haven’t made an application for funding before, remember the golden rule: keep your proposal as simple as possible. You can always add to a successful base in the future. Use the questions listed below as a starting point. They will provide the basis for any funding application form, letter or interview. Not only will you feel more confident when approaching funders, but the more thoroughly an idea is thought through, the more likely it is to be successful. Who? l Who wants the club? l Who is it for? Is there a specific target group, will there be open access, can families attend? l Who will be responsible for planning and running the club? l Who else can help? For example, you could approach the local police or the school meals service. Why? l Why are you doing it? To improve attendance? To increase pupils’ concentration and motivation? To improve their attainment? To increase understanding about healthy eating in pupils’ families and the local community? Where? l Where will it take place? In more than one room? l Where will you recruit staff, emergency cover and volunteers from? l Where will you find out about recruitment, CRB disclosures, health and safety and so on? l Where can you get funding or resources at low cost or no cost at all? When? l When will you start and end the club? List times and dates. l When will you hear back from the funders you have approached? (This can be up to three months after the application deadline.) l When will you tell people about the club? What? l What activities are you going to run in order to achieve the club’s aims? l What documents do you need? What forms do you need to hand out to club members? Think about health and safety, insurance, questionnaires, photo consent forms, codes of conduct and so on. l What will you do if too many or too few children want to attend? l What will your club be called? How? l How will the club be different from ‘normal’ lessons? l How much is it going to cost? Research this fully and break down your costs in all paperwork, but specifically in your funding applications. l How are you going to establish the rules for the club? l How are you going to promote and reward good attendance? Will you use certificates, badges or stickers? How will you budget for these? l How will you know whether the club has been a success? l How will you report to funders on your progress? Once you have the answers to all these questions, you can decide on the best way to gain financial and material support for your club. Broadly speaking, there are four main types of funding available: l corporate sponsorship/donations l statutory funding streams l grants from charitable trusts l donated resources/funding in kind. Top tips! Corporate sponsorship l Approach local businesses and local branches of larger organisations rather than head offices – they are more likely to appreciate the local benefit of supporting your club. l Consider what promotional benefits your club could offer to local sponsoring organisations, such as posters, press coverage and events. l Address your letters to a particular person – not just ‘Dear Sir’, or ‘To whom it may concern’. In your letter you could offer to meet the person to discuss the project and its potential impact. l Business in the Community has links with companies throughout the country and can put schools in contact with local businesses. Further details can be obtained from their website www.bitc.org.uk. l If you are thinking of approaching large organisations, get copies of their annual reports and investigate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. This will tell you how much money they donate to charities and community groups every year. Charitable trusts l It can often take up to three months for applications to be approved – think ahead and build enough time for this into your planning. l If the guidance says ‘call before application’, do so. If it says ‘written requests only’, then don’t ring them up! l The remits and aims of trusts are usually quite specific, so make sure you read all their literature before you complete a bid. l Be creative! If a funder only funds new projects, don’t think you have to start again from scratch. Changing one aspect of the club, such as its target group or its theme, may be enough for it to qualify. © ContinYou 2007 24 General l Find out whether school governors or members of the parent teacher association (PTA) can obtain donations or resources to support the club from their employers. l If the PTA is a registered charity, piggy-back on this status to gain access to funding. l If you are interested in becoming a voluntary organisation or would like to register for charitable status, log on to www.navca. org.uk/liodir to find out how to contact your local Council for Voluntary Service. l Speak to local authority advisers to link your plans with other local authority or school initiatives. l If you need computer hardware, visit www.donateapc.org.uk . Is there any ‘new’ money? The fast-approaching deadline for schools and communities to offer a full range of extended services means that the way in which study support activities are funded is changing. So, as well as talking with your senior management team and the study support co-ordinator for your area, it is worth identifying who is responsible for the development of extended services (or extended schools) in your area. They will be based in your local authority and will have responsibility for ensuring that high-quality extended services are provided in and around schools in your area. In some instances this role will be undertaken by your the study support co-ordinator; in other areas the roles will be separate. Together, these people will be able to help you identify which statutory funds are available to you. The personalised learning money announced in March 2006 provides schools with the option of supporting a range of new activities. The money can be spent on any activity as long as it is deemed appropriate to the local community and meets the needs of pupils, particularly those who are from more disadvantaged areas or are particularly at risk. Your cookery club could be supported through this fund, as long as suitable levels of consultation with parents and pupils were undertaken before the club started (see page 11 – ‘Asking around’). Personalised learning money can also be used to fund ‘guest tutors’ or visits from local professionals. Or why not undertake part of your consultation during a one-off Cookery Academy (see page 6)? Who has got the money? Some of the main sources of funding are listed below. However, be prepared to devote a fair amount of time to seeking funding. l School Development Grant (part of the Standards Fund) – schools are free to spend their SDG on any activity to support improvement in teaching and learning, including study support clubs and other enrichment programmes. l School Standards Grant (part of the Standards Fund) – this can be used by the school for any purpose, including community facilities in support of extended services beyond those that are eligible to be supported through their main delegated budget. l Awards for All – this funds projects that enable people to take part in arts, sports, heritage and community activities, as well as in projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community. Visit www.awardsforall.org.uk or telephone 0845 600 20 40 for a grant application pack. l Young People’s Fund – this fund finances projects involving young people aged 11 to 18, across the UK. Telephone 0845 4 10 20 30 for more details or visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/ programmes/ypf. l Children’s Fund (England only) – grants of between £250 and £7,000 are available to locally-managed voluntary, community or self-help groups (including PTAs) to run activities for disadvantaged children or young people. Telephone 0845 113 0161 or visit the website to find details of Children’s Fund provision in your area: www.ne-cf. org/text.asp?section=000100040021. l The Community Foundation Network – in addition to administering £70m of the Children’s Fund, community foundations administer a wide range of charitable funds at a regional level, across the UK. Many of these funds will support study support activities. Visit their website at: www.community foundations. org.uk. As well as these general funding sources, there are a number of specific routes to securing funding for your cookery club. We have listed some of the most successful routes available below. Most of them focus on funding food, community or study support activities. l Major supermarkets may well be interested in supporting a cookery club. Approach your local store for financial support and/or support in kind. l You could approach your local Round Table, Rotary Club, Women’s Institute or Townswomen’s Guild. Their community focus means they’re often willing to support local initiatives. l Study support clubs have the potential to reduce truancy, bullying and other anti-social behaviour. If you are setting up a club in an area where crime or anti-social behaviour is a problem, it’s worth talking to your local community police officer or town centre manager. They may be able to add support to your funding application or may have access to funds that your club could apply for. l It may be worth approaching the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund – www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/page. asp?id=611. © ContinYou 2007 25 l Your parent teacher association or friends of the school association may have funding to support the development of your cookery club, especially if it meets the need for after-school childcare. Some useful funding resources The following publications are available by mail order from the Directory of Social Change. Telephone 020 7209 5151 or visit the website www.dsc.org.uk/acatalog. l The schools funding guide – this includes 200 possible sources of funding and support, covering companies, regional and central government, the National Lottery, grant-making trusts and foundations and European bodies. Price: £19.95 l The guide to UK company giving – a reference guide profiling more than 500 companies’ support to voluntary and community organisations, including cash donations and gifts-in-kind. Price: £39.95 l The directory of grant making trusts – this comprehensive reference work covers 2,500 grant-making trusts, each with the potential to give at least £20,000 a year. Price: £95.00 Taking care of the pennies Wherever your funding comes from, you will need to account for how it is spent. This means keeping detailed records of income and expenditure. Keeping financial records up to date allows you to monitor the progress of your programme and means that you can ensure that resources for forthcoming activities are available when they are needed. Top tips! l Make friends with your bursar/financial manager, who will be able to help you to plan your budget and set up simple systems for recording income and expenditure. l Think of everything you may need when you plan your budget and make sure that your costings are realistic. l Consider the funder’s requirements when setting up your financial systems – this will make it easier to submit monitoring and financial information on time and will avoid delays in funding being released. l Keep expenditure ‘headings’ as simple as possible, as this will give you plenty of flexibility. l Keep a cash book at the club to record cash expenditure. Keep copies of all receipts and invoices; they may be needed to validate your spending. l Review planned and actual expenditure against the budget on a regular basis. l If you are making changes to your budget, make sure you involve the right people at the right time. Keeping it going l Keep your current funders informed and invite them to events. They’ll be able to see they’re getting a return on their investment and will be more likely to fund you in the future. l Start looking for alternative funding streams at least four months before your existing funding runs out – even if your current funder thinks that they will be able to maintain your grant. Sadly, these things are not guaranteed. © ContinYou 2007 26 What do we do now? It’s important to find out what club members want out of the club at an early stage. First and foremost the club should be enjoyable, but it should also be an opportunity for club members to learn more about food and cooking. The most successful clubs will offer a wide range of activities so that club members can try something different each week while extending their learning. By varying the activities in the first few weeks, you’ll be able to identify what the members enjoy, which will help make your club a success. There’s a whole variety of ways to learn about healthy eating and nutrition – you don’t have to cook at every session. Shopping trips, menu planning, calculating energy balances, identifying food sources, discussion groups, exploring cultural differences and traditions, inventing new recipes, calculating costs, and understanding food labelling are all alternative ideas that can be developed into enjoyable and accessible activities. Top tips! l To create a sense of continuity, and to tie all the sessions together, make a rough plan, before the first session, of what you are going to do for the whole term. l If members know what activities you’re doing next time, they’ll want to come along to see what happens. If you split an activity over two sessions, it will encourage them to come back and finish the task. l When you are designing a programme of activities, make sure in advance that you’ll be able to get hold of all the equipment and materials you need. l Consider whether the activities you are planning are inclusive – can they be adapted to suit all the children in the group? l Although the activities may be linked together, would a newcomer still be able to join in at any point during the term? l Look at the school calendar – are other activities such as residential or other trips taking place that will affect attendance at any key points? l Are you able to subsidise the cost of the club or will you have to charge for some sessions? You need to make sure that club members know how much they need to contribute over the term. You could inform them of this in a termly newsletter to their parents or carers. Make sure you factor in all the costs. As well as buying in ingredients, you may need extra equipment, such as art materials or storage containers, for some activities. l Think about working in both small and large groups. Activities that involve the whole group give pupils the chance to shine, support one another, and develop team work skills. Providing quieter alternatives, or smaller team games, can provide a safer space for those who need to build their confidence up first. © ContinYou 2007 27 Ideas for activities The ideas presented here will help you lead a range of sessions; they are designed for Key Stages 1 to 2 but they can easily be adapted for older age-groups. There’s a mixture of enjoyable games as well as activities that tie in with particular aspects of the curriculum. The What’s cooking? guide (funded by the Food Standards Agency) includes a number of activities and recipes designed specifically for 11 to 14 year olds. Copies can be downloaded from www.continyou.org.uk/ whatscooking. For information about where you could find other recipes and ideas for activities, look at the section ‘Finding out more’ on page 31. Alternatively, you can use the ideas we have suggested as a starting point for developing your own games and activities. There are no set rules as to what does or doesn’t work! Discussion topics You could debate the following issues with all the club members, or in smaller groups. Healthy and hygienic What is meant by these terms? Are you healthy? How do you know? ‘Five portions a day’ How big is a portion? What are the benefits of eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day? Does it matter whether you eat fruit or vegetables? Do potatoes count towards your portions? Budgeting – how much does a ‘portion’ cost? How do you work it out and who decides what a portion is? Why are some apples expensive and others cheaper? Taste and texture – how do we taste food? Is the texture of food important? What do the club members like and dislike? Why? Magical measuring Why is measuring so important? What happens if you alter the quantity of some of the ingredients? Is it more important to get the measurements right with some foods, and not so important with others? Making your own modelling dough is a good way of exploring measurements – what happens if you add too much or too little water? Visit www.craftforkids. co.uk/dough.htm and www.anastasis.co.uk for activities with modelling dough and measuring. Dinner party dilemmas What to do Divide the members into teams. Give each team a piece of paper with a basic menu plan, the number of people who are eating, and the time that dinner is due to be served. Each team then has to work to come up with recipes, a shopping list and preparation plans to enable them to get the food on the table in time. Encourage teams to think about how to make the menu as healthy as possible, while keeping the price per head reasonable. Each team then presents their plans to the other members of the club, who then vote on which menu offers best value and which they think will be ready on time. It is up to the group to decide whether best value is reflected in the price alone (perhaps through only buying ‘value’ or tinned products) or whether buying organic, fair trade and fresh produce contributes to value in different ways – for instance, by providing a more nutritious or environmentally-friendly option. If you aren’t able to go on a field trip to your local supermarket, you could search for products and prices by using the online shopping option provided by most major supermarkets. Preparing to cook Curriculum links Design and Technology Learning objective To be able to follow safe procedures for food safety and hygiene. What to do There are two parts to this activity: 1 Get club members to discuss their experiences of cooking at home and school. Ask what people need to do before they start cooking (washing their hands, cleaning worktops and so on). Go on to ask why it is important to prepare in this way and what materials/equipment/ resources you need to ensure that food is prepared safely. 2 The main part of the club session will be spent designing a poster with instructions about how to prepare for cooking. This is a good starting point for drawing up a set of club rules. Ask members to work in pairs or small groups, to share their ideas and plan their poster. Encourage them to ask themselves questions, such as: Are there any instructions that we might have left out? Which instructions are the most important? Why? Would the instructions for cooking at home be different? How do we store foods in the fridge? Does it matter what colour chopping board I use? Discuss with the group the reasons for the instructions and what might happen if they were ignored. When the posters are finished, decide on the best place to display them. Make it a rule that all club members follow these instructions before preparing any food. Dream cookies! This activity could stretch over two or three sessions, depending on what works best in your particular club. Curriculum links Design and Technology Learning objective To find out about the likes and dislikes of club members. What to do Set out a plate of plain biscuits (water crackers or rye crackers work well) for each club member to try. If you have time, you could make these. Ask the club members whether they liked the biscuits, and whether they think they could make them taste better. Ask them to think about why different people like different things. What other ingredients could be added to change the flavour? Is the texture important? How could it be changed? © ContinYou 2007 28 Split pupils up into pairs or small groups and provide each with a packet of biscuits and some adverts for different foods. Encourage the members to come up with ideas for making their ‘dream cookie’. Encourage them to think about different ingredients they could add, such as dried fruit, nuts or spices. Which flavours would go well together and which might not work as well? You could end up with some weird and wonderful recipes, but remember that you have to be able to obtain the ingredients. So either set some limits on what they can choose, or think ahead about what you’re going to say to a child who insists that they want to make their cookie with larks’ tongues and damson jam. Half-way through the session, ask members to come back together to share their ideas. Look at a range of food colourings and discuss which would make cookies look appealing. Do they think this would depend on what ingredients have been used? Ask each small group to explain their ideas and decisions. Now ask each group to write down their recipe and their cooking plan for the following session. Encourage them to think about what ingredients they are going to need, what method they will use, and how long the cookies will take to cook. If necessary, provide a few sample recipes to help. By the end of the session each group will need to hand in a shopping list so the ingredients can be bought in time for the next session. Dream cookies! Follow-up session Curriculum links Design and Technology Learning objectives l To be able to gather together and combine ingredients l To improve the appearance of the food they have produced What to do Begin by working with the whole group to recap the previous session. Talk about what makes people want to buy one pack of biscuits rather than another. Ask how they would design a packet for their dream cookie. Suggest you make a basic cookie recipe as one group, before dividing into the small groups/pairs of the previous session. At this point, members are free to add their chosen ingredients, referring to the recipe and plan they made in the last session. While the cookies are baking, each member can decorate the container that their cookies are going to be displayed or stored in, aiming to make their batch seem the most appealing! Extension At the end of the session, line all of the decorated containers up on a table and discuss what makes the labels and cookies look appealing. Ask the pupils which of them they would want to buy. Why? Which look most expensive? Why? Try to ensure that all comments are positive and constructive. Cooking for a celebration Curriculum links PSHE/Citizenship Learning objective To find out more about a festival or holiday such as Easter or Diwali. Getting ready For this session you will need images of things that relate to your chosen theme (candles, animals, presents and so on), and ingredients for biscuits, cakes and other types of food that fit in with the theme. What to do Begin by giving all members a chance to say what they know about the chosen festival or celebration. Discuss the time of year when it is celebrated and link it to other key messages and events. Explore key questions such as: What kinds of food do people eat on special occasions? Does the food they eat symbolise anything in particular? Some of the members could lead this discussion – if it’s a festival from their own culture, they might like to teach other children about it. Other members could then do the same when a festival they celebrate comes around. If you prefer, you could have one day where a wide range of foods and cakes are prepared. Invite parents, teachers and carers, or the whole community, to join in the fun. Healthy eating Curriculum links Science/Citizenship/PSHE Learning objective To be able to make choices that can lead to improved health and wellbeing. What to do Ask some of the group members to lead a session collecting together what they already know about healthy eating and energy balance. You could start with the statement ‘Everything is okay in moderation’ and use it to generate discussion. Place a number of key questions around the room and ask the members to try to think about these during the day. For instance: How would we find out what types of food groups are in a particular recipe? Which part of the recipe gives us that information? Put up big headings on the wall, giving the names of the main food groups. Hand out a selection of recipes to small groups. Each group should work together to decide which is the main food group used in the recipe. Encourage them to consider which other food groups are also used. When they have decided, they should stick the recipe under one of the headings on the wall. When all the groups have stuck their recipes up, ask them to think about whether they are happy with the decisions they have made. Do they disagree? If so, why? Key questions might include: Do we agree that this recipe belongs in this food group? Is there a different food group it could belong to? How much of this sort of food should there be in a balanced diet? Are there any recipes that provide a balance of several food groups? Which recipes could we eat as often as we liked? Which should we only eat occasionally? © ContinYou 2007 29 Ask each group if they can develop a menu that contains all of the main food groups and a good balance of nutrients. Perhaps they could develop one menu for an ordinary dinner and one for a birthday party. Ask them: How are these similar? How are they different? Could you eat the birthday menu everyday? Encourage each group to present their ideas, either to the club or to other pupils in assembly. This will help to promote your club to new members. The activity ideas given here are based on a selection supplied by Anastasis Ltd. You will find a wide range of further ideas, resources, software and information on their website – www.anastasis.co.uk. This includes interactive whiteboard ideas, recipes and detailed information about curriculum links. Their website also includes child-friendly activities, such as ‘Create your own recipe book’. © ContinYou 2007 30 How are we doing? By now you are hopefully feeling a bit more confident about how you are going to approach running your club and what you are hoping to achieve. The next challenge is to work out how to monitor your progress and find out whether your club is meeting or exceeding your members’ expectations. Top tips! l Remember to ask whether what you are providing and how you are providing it is enjoyable and beneficial for club members, their families and staff. Compare these results with what people said they wanted or were expecting during the original consultation. l Qualitative data is ‘soft’ information that is difficult to count or measure, such as anecdotal evidence of improved behaviour or increased confidence. l Quantitative data is ‘hard’ information that can be measured with numbers, such as improvements in school achievements. There are lots of different tools that you can use to gather this information. But the most important thing is to keep it relevant, as brief as possible, and easy for your group to complete. Here are a few pointers for making your monitoring and evaluation meaningful: l Seek information regularly but not too often – people will soon get bored with responding if they don’t see anything happening as a result of their participation. l Know what you want to measure, why you want to measure it and what you are going to do with the information. l Decide on how you are going to collect the information before you start. l Make sure that what you ask is relevant and don’t ask too many questions! l Collect ‘baseline’ information when you start the club and as new members join – this gives you something to measure progress against. l Think about who will have an opinion. Seek the views of a range of people, such as club members, teaching staff, partners and parents. l Think about how and when you will obtain the information – use a variety of methods to suit the group you are asking. l Make the way you collect the information clear, quick and simple – it can even be fun! l Be consistent – use the same measurement ‘tool’ (such as a survey) each time you ask the same group for information, so that you can compare like with like. l Be aware that other factors beyond participation in your cookery club may have also affected progress toward your target – this means that, although you cannot say that participation caused a particular change, it may have contributed to that change. Keeping it going l Set realistic goals. l Aim to send out and collate information on a regular basis, but don’t be too ambitious. This will only lead to frustration and annoyance, both from the people being asked to complete paperwork and from you when you find you are not getting enough responses! Top tips! l Ask your local authority study support/extended services co-ordinator for help with evaluation, or talk to colleagues running similar clubs in other schools to find out what works for them. l Evaluation is most effective when one person is responsible for the whole process of collecting data, analysing the results and ensuring that they have an impact. © ContinYou 2007 31 Finding out more Now you know what you have to do, but where do you find the answers to some of the detailed practical questions that you need more help with? For example, how do you find out more about what constitutes a healthy meal? How do you go about promoting healthy choices to children, when so many cheap, convenient and attractive foods are marketed directly to them? To help you on your way, we have brought together information about just some of the key resources and websites focusing on food, health, nutrition and key food competencies. Some contain recipe ideas and nutritional guidance, while a number offer promotional materials or activity packs at little or no cost, and others provide advice on health and safety, and food hygiene. This section will enable you to: l get hold of ‘freebies’ l know who to contact for advice on healthy eating, games, activities and other areas that will add value to your club. For help on what material resources you will need to run a cookery club, have a look at the first section, ‘What is a cookery club?’ on page 6. Remember, the more groundwork you do now, the more successful and sustainable your club will be. Funders will be more inclined to support you if they can see that you have found out about existing resources and learnt from previously identified models of good practice. Keeping it going Find new links and investigate new avenues, but don’t get bogged down with internet searches. Try to network with other people in a similar position to you, to find out where they have had new and exciting information from. For example, they may have got resource packs sent directly to them, or perhaps they have revisited old sources of information and found new inspiration there. Your Healthy Schools Co-ordinator will be a very valuable resource for you and your members – you can find out who they are by logging onto www.lhsp.org. General resources ContinYou ContinYou’s website has a wide range of information and support materials available to download. This includes What’s cooking?, the guide to cookery clubs produced by ContinYou on behalf of the Food Standards Agency. This can be found at www.continyou.org.uk/ whatscooking. Also, the Study Support ETC website at www.continyou.org.uk/study supportetc provides many tools and additional information about how you can work to develop and sustain extended services provision. Website: www.continyou.org.uk Activity and recipe sites Anastasis This is a valuable resource for all those working to develop cookery skills with children and young people. Many of the activities on pages 26–29 came from this source. The website focuses on Captain Cook’s Tuck Box. As well as activities (organised by key stage), it also has recipes and other useful information. Website: www.anastasis.co.uk Home Grown Cereals Authority The Home Grown Cereals Authority has worked with Flour and Grain and Kids Cookery School to produce guidance on developing a cookery club. Website: www.hgca.com Website: www.flourandgrain.com Kids Cookery School This first-ever children’s cookery school to have achieved charitable status is a unique and innovative project aimed at promoting cookery skills, healthy eating and food awareness among children from all social backgrounds and age groups. Website: www.thekidscookeryschool. co.uk. Planning and developing The following sites have a range of activities and information on them that may be of use when you are planning and developing your club. Academy of Culinary Arts Can arrange school visits from chefs. Tel: 020 8673 6300 Website: www.academyofculinaryarts. org.uk Activity Village Website: www.activityvillage.co.uk/ cooking_with_kids_safely.htm BBC Website: www.bbc.co.uk/food/ recipes/mostof_cookingwithchildren1. shtml Food Standards Agency Bash Street Kids downloads – an interactive site for members, and concrete information for club co-ordinators. Website: www.food.gov.uk/ interactivetools/educational/ bashstreetdiet Friendly Farm Club Check out the fact files and crazy games. Website: www.friendlyfarmclub.com Home and Family Network Website: www.homeandfamilynetwork. com/food/kids.html Martha Stewart Martha Stewart’s initiatives for working with young people Website: www.marthastewart. com/kids – click on ‘Food’ WicWorks, California Website: www.wicworks.ca.gov/ education/nutrition/kidsRecipes/ cooking_w_index.htm © ContinYou 2007 32 Health, support and nutrition-related sites British Heart Foundation Produces a variety of resources and materials for children. Tel: 020 7935 0185 Website: www.bhf.org.uk British Nutrition Foundation Type ‘healthy eating’ or ‘menus’ into the search field to find loads of activities and ideas. The site also contains information detailing key food competencies and key skills, as well as information on how to develop and implement a whole-school food policy. The healthy schools section of their education site is really useful. Website: www.nutrition.org.uk Grab 5 – Sustain Information on food and healthy eating guidelines. Website: www.sustainweb.org/ grab5_index.asp Health Education Trust Information and good practice on issues related to health education. Tel: 01789 773 915 Website: www.healthedtrust.com National Healthy School Standard Information on the Healthy School Standard. All schools should be aiming to be accredited as a Healthy School by 2009. Website: www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk National School Fruit Scheme Linking with the National Fruit Scheme in your school can be a great way of securing additional ingredients for your fruit crumbles. Website: www.5aday.nhs.uk/sfvs Primary Care Trust (PCT) Find your local PCT through the NHS. Tel: 020 7210 4850 Website: www.nhs.uk/root/ localnhsservices/list_orgs.asp?ot=5_ Policy, training and good practice Big Barn Information on local food producers. Website: www.bigbarn.co.uk Tel: 01234 871 005 (for a national directory of producers) Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Provides information on accredited colleges offering food hygiene and health and safety courses. Tel: 020 7928 6006 Website: www.cieh.org.uk Directory of Social Change Information on policy, fundraising and becoming/operating as a voluntary organisation. Website: www.dsc.org.uk Milk for Schools Campaign for milk provision in schools. Website: www.milkforschools.org.uk Scottish Community Diet Project Information on policy, practice and resources in Scotland. Website: www.dietproject.org.uk Please note that ContinYou can only make information-based recommendations. It is not responsible for promoting individual products or services.