Thursday 24 November 2011

Pauline's first SAKGP Kitchen Class

28th October 2011
Planning
·         The opportunity arose to do a cooking session with my class when  I replaced  a colleague (who usually works on the cooking day)
·         The menu  for my class (White Class) was set by their regular teacher: pizza and apple turnovers
·         I decided to use the opportunity to attempt a SAKGP style lesson!
·         Planning issues:
o   One class  of  6 students  with  3 adults would not be large enough to provide  a range of ‘tastes’ and would possibly not work for the meal as 3 of my students  are quite fussy eaters
o   I could not change what  the regular teacher had planned, so could only add to it
·         I decided to combine with Blue Class next door  which then allowed for:
o   The two classrooms  to be opened up to make one large open area
o   Two cooking areas
o   7 adults with  12 students
·         A menu  was developed based on what had already been planned plus what was available in our gardens
·         The menu, time plan and recipes were given to all staff 2 days prior
·         Teacher Aides were given brief information about the SAKGP philosophy (teachers had already had professional development about it)
·         Groupings and staffing list was distributed to all staff 2 days prior after consultation with Blue Class teacher
·         Blue Class teacher assisted by informing me about what ingredients were already available in the classes
Implementing:
·         Shopping very easy before school – not very much to purchase
·         Changes:
o   Blue Class teacher absent so I could no longer ‘float’ – would need to cook with her group
o   Preparation interrupted by 5 students and 2 staff being withdrawn (in groups or separately) for between 10 and 30 minutes for various reasons
·         Each group went out to harvest for their ingredients in  the lesson beforehand – worked well
·         Interactive  whiteboard  presentation showing photos of foods to be cooked and who was in each group worked well
·         Time plan was very useful as it highlighted the need for potatoes to be pre-baked and for pizza dough to be mixed and have its first rise before lesson and for all participants to be aware of when food should be served
·         Moving tables, getting serving plates, utensils, baking trays, glasses, etc took time but would not happen when we cook in our new kitchen
·         Everything went to plan!!  The meal was served at the planned time
·         Most students were engaged for most of the time – when they had finished their jobs they helped others
·         Being able to ‘float’ would have been good
·         In the ‘real setting’ there would have been me ‘floating’ plus one other teacher
·         We need vases – flowers in baskets implied they were edible!
·         Menu – too much pastry – I would have preferred a fruit dish e.g. strawberries in honey – better colour selection too
·         All students ate something – great to have the selection
·         Almost all food got eaten
·         Salads could have been bigger
·         Most students sat for most of the time
·         Some staff felt that they ought to be washing up between courses (we are not used to sitting with our students when they eat!) – getting up set the example for the students to get up too! We all need to stay sitting!!
·         We need to encourage our students serve themselves with food – not serve them!
·         Quite a lot of washing up afterwards – dishwasher will help
·         I wish I had spent more time looking at the presentation of the food before we started to eat  so as to compliment each group
Feedback from staff:
·         Great selection allowed all students to find something they liked, much better than one main and a desert
·         Good to be responsible for just one item with particular students
·         Lovely to sit with kids
·         Good to have information in advance
·         Good for kids to be involved in whole recipe rather than just help with one bit (chopping/mixing etc.)
·         Very positive – wanted to do it again next week!!
Summary:
·         It is important to emphasise the SAKGP philosophy, especially about setting the example of sitting and enjoying all food, and encouraging  students  to serve themselves and pass food around
·         Visitors must be positive at all times too
·         Information about menus, recipes and groupings to staff in advance very important
What else would I do/change?
·         Recipes in symbols
·         Follow-up activities
·         More balanced menu
·         Stress importance of sitting (staff)
·         Spend more time talking about/complimenting  people about the food when it is served






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