Rokeby Primary pasta healthy eating test
Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services division and Parent Support Adviser in Rugby Central served up a novel way to put the healthy eating message across to children and their families.
Pupils were the cooks in the Come Dine With Me project at Rokeby School which saw 18 pupils from nursery up to year 6 decide on a range of menus, create a restaurant setting in the school dinner hall, produce artwork for the invitations and menus and finally help to cook an Italian meal for their families.
The final task was to act as waiting staff on their parents. Comments have shown how well this went down. Parents said “Excellente, signor!”, “Our evening was delightful. Very good food and great company.” And with a nod to the Channel 4 programme ‘Come Dine with Me’, one parent said “My host was very professional. 10/10.”.
Among the comments of the children were “I really liked cooking for my family and the food was nice as well,” and “It was great but hard work!”.
The night and the three planning days beforehand were 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 our children and their families.” said Alison Stringer, head teacher of Rokeby Primary School. “We are so proud of all the work they have done along the way, not just on the evening, and are delighted that the families had such a good evening.”
The project has had another serious benefit, one which Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for Children, Young People and Families, points out.
“Healthy eating is key to well-being and the best way to ensure that young people have a balanced diet is if all the family are aware of how to cook nutritious healthy food and its benefits. Learning is best when it’s fun and this evening, indeed this whole project, combined both.
“This is a classic example of Extended Services working with the school – in this case, Rokeby Primary School - to ensure that the whole family, and not just the children make the most of the resources at a school.”