Last week, as part of Sodexo’s Powering Performance Programme, some of our Year 7 students who normally attend the RBC Get Active club, swapped their trainers for aprons and moved inside for a chef led lesson ‘Eat well for life’. This programme devised by the Healthy Futures Partnership, and supported by the British Nutrition Foundation, a leading UK charity, is aimed at inspiring and engaging students providing them with the opportunity to learn some basic food life skills as well as understand the link between their diet and performance.

The lesson started with the school’s Executive Chef, Charlie Warren, and Catering Manager, Aimee Sutcliffe talking to the students about the main food types and the recommended daily amounts that students should be eating. The students learned about the health benefits of particular foods and the importance of keeping hydrated.

The group then moved into the school’s kitchen which looks very different to their domestic kitchens at home! Students were very impressed with the wi-fi operated self-cleaning oven and the size of the cooking pots!

Charlie then demonstrated how to make a quick beef stir-fry with students adding the various ingredients to the pan. The miso paste had to be sampled before it was added and received mix reviews and for some pak choi was a first. One student commented that although similar in appearance, pak choi tastes much nicer than cabbage which is ‘rank’!

Alex was quick to tell us he was not a lover of mushrooms, which incidentally are rich in selenium and good for cell regeneration, however he did agree to try them in the finished dish and actually enjoyed them!

The finished dish, served with rice, received rave reviews with most coming back for seconds and in some cases thirds! Students asked Charlie if this dish can be added to the school menu next term.

Students made the most of their visit to the kitchen and seemed surprised that the conveyor belt, on which they place their used plates and cutlery in the dining hall, does have a final destination where someone actually has to wash-up! In the walk-in fridge, the eagle-eyed in the group quickly spotted the freshly made flapjacks, intended for next day’s break, and were quick to take one once offered.

The group returned to the Dining Hall, to reflect on what they had seen and learned with some saying they would try making the stir fry at home. The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive with requests for similar sessions in future. Representatives from the British Nutrition Foundation attended the event as Reading Blue Coat is the first school to host this new initiative.

We are enormously grateful to Aimee, Charlie and the rest of the Sodexo team for running such a great session for our students and can’t wait for the next.