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o   Preparation interrupted by 5 students and 2 staff being withdrawn (in groups or separately) for between 10 and 30 minutes for various reasons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