Cooking

Our Intent

At Tufnell Park we are passionate about providing pupils with the knowledge and opportunity to lead a healthy active lifestyle. Our vision is that every child learns about food in a holistic sense and has the confidence to eat well, be healthy and happy. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Food and nutrition sessions at Tufnell Park gives our pupils the tools to know what is good for their bodies and provides them with an opportunity to develop their cooking skills. Our pupils all have access to our new, modern, bright and well-resourced cooking facilities.

Here at Tufnell Park, we are very proud to deliver practical cooking sessions including an extra-curricular club to help enhance the learning journey where the children prepare healthy tasty snacks. Here they also learn how to safely prepare their ingredients; the importance of being safe in the kitchen; and how to clean up after themselves, from washing up to sweeping and cleaning their equipment. Once the food is cooked the children are given the chance to sit together and share their delicious new creation.

Tufnell Park’s food technology curriculum links through our whole school to develop competent and independent cooks. Our lessons help children to develop healthy eating habits and encourages an enthusiasm and interest in food, cooking, food provenance and sustainability.

Pupils work is regularly showcased on our school website, on displays around the school and pupils also have the opportunity to cater for a variety of school events during the year such as our cake sales or our annual International Evening where food is celebrated and everyone gets to eat some delicious foods from an international cuisine prepared by children, parents and staff.

At Tufnell Park we are confident that the children will thoroughly enjoy the cooking sessions and in addition to learning new skills will also gain a greater understanding about why food is so important for our health and where our food comes from. The children will learn which foods are reared, caught, or grown and that this happens in the UK and across the globe. The use of the “outdoor classroom” helps us to grow our own foods as well as purchasing food from shops within our local area. Children will have the opportunity to watch the process of chicks hatching in the classroom and/or growing their own beans and vegetables in the school grounds.

Implementation

Food technology is taught for one session a week in the Foundation Stage where our children learn basic cooking skills that closely link into our English and maths curriculum.

In key stages 1 and 2, there is one dedicated unit of food technology in our Design and Technology curriculum each year but it is also taught across the year to tie in with other areas of the curriculum and for celebrations. This ensures that meaningful cross-curricular links are made leading to deeper learning and understanding. As a diverse school, we teach children about heritage and culture through food and cooking. We try to link in special events and celebrations in the calendar year – e.g. Easter, Eid, Diwali and Halloween. This makes cooking relevant and fun for the children.

To ensure prior learning is built upon we follow a knowledge and skills progression. For a detailed description of the skills and knowledge taught in each key stage click here.

Black History Month

Black History Month is one example of how we use cooking to teach about heritage and culture. As part of Black History Month the children in the Early Years classes brought in different food for tasting that we shared.

The children in Cygnus Class made callaloo. Callaloo is a popular local staple green leafy vegetable, cooked with garlic, onion, tomatoes, thyme and pepper. It is a perfect healthy side dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Taste of the Caribbean

Also as part of Black History Month, Cheryl Williams, (Cygnus class teacher) and Kim Ollard (Aquila TA) taught cookery across the school to expose children to the spices and ingredients of Caribbean cuisine, especially focusing on the food that was sold at the Tufnell Park Carnival. Check out the news post and pictures here.