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01 December 2009
Eight school cooks from three secondary schools in Hastings will today become the first to attend a new course at William Parker Sports College.
9 November 2009
William Parker Sports College joins the School FEAST training network
Eight school cooks from three secondary schools in Hastings today become the first to attend a new course at William Parker Sports College, delivering a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Professional Cookery designed specifically to match the needs of school caterers.
The course has been designed and organised by the South East School FEAST partnership, led by GY5 Ltd and Sussex Downs College. This is one of 29 School FEAST centres and partnerships comprising a national network of specialist training centres dedicated to the school food workforce.
The new School FEAST training kitchen at William Parker Sports College will offer an 18-week course of tuition and assessment based around the units of NVQ Level 2 Professional Cookery which are most relevant to school cooks. Recipes for the course have been chosen with health and nutrition in mind, and nutritional analysis will be carried out to ensure they meet the requirements of the new nutrient-based standards, which govern school food.
The nutrient-based standards are designed to ensure that the food provided for children at lunchtime contains the correct levels of 14 key nutrients including carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Prue Leith, Chair of the School Food Trust said: "School cooks are the heartbeat of our school food revolution - transforming lunches and children's health. They deserve the best training. This extension of the School FEAST network will play a key role in nurturing the school cooks of the future – enhancing the skills of kitchen staff for hundreds of schools in Hastings and the surrounding area, and ensuring more children eat a healthy lunch every day.”
The students at Hastings will today begin practical sessions. The course will be completed at the end of April, when the cooks will be able to apply their skills at their schools, improving the quality of food served to children across the region.
Lead partner Julian Edwards of GY5 Ltd says, “The College has truly captured the spirit of School FEAST and has provided an excellent venue for these workshops. The new training kitchen, funded by School FEAST is just the beginning of greater activities to follow!”
David Evans, Business Manager at William Parker Sports College says: “We consider healthy, nutritious school meals to be at the heart of school life, and so we were happy to have the opportunity to invest in the skills of our school cooks and offer them the chance to gain a well-respected qualification. The course will help us to expand and develop our menus, while complying with the new nutrient-based standards.”
Any school catering staff in the South East interested in registering for the course should contact Louise Crowe at Sussex Downs College on 01273 402203, or by emailing Louise.Crowe@sussexdowns.ac.uk
