Come Dine With Me comes to Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services division and Parent Support Adviser in Rugby Central have come up with a novel way to put the healthy eating message across to families.
Pupils are to be the cooks in the Come Dine With Me project at Rokeby School which will see 18 pupils from nursery up to year 6 decide on a range of menus, create a restaurant setting in the school dinner hall and produce artwork for the invitations and menus.
The final task before they cook the food and wait on the tables will be to sort out the guest list. That will be an easy task as the invited will be their parents.
The night and the three planning days before hand have been organised by the Extended Services cluster co-ordinator and parent support adviser. In the initial meeting with the young people, a representative from Action on Well-Being advised on healthy eating. The following meeting saw the young people use this information in deciding what would be served.
After doing the artwork, the final meeting will decide on the logistics – who would cook, who would serve.
“The project has had so many benefits for the young people,” said Melanie Evans, Extended Services cluster co-ordinator for Rugby Central. “They have had some experience of how a business operates and have made all the important decisions.”
The project has had another serious benefit, one which Cllr Carolyn Robbins, vice-chair of the Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee, points out.
“The ingredients for the meals are all chosen by the young people for their healthy aspect. It is important that all the family is involved in knowing about healthy eating and we hope that schemes like these will flourish and involve more families with healthy activities
“Extended Services has a remit to provide positive activities for all the family. I feel this is an excellent example of everything that the division should be trying to achieve.”