As part of our relentless drive to make the curriculum at Wood Street as exciting and inspirational as possible, and to make learning memorable and meaningful we take part in  ‘Grow, Cook and Eat’ initiative.  It was quite revealing in assembly one day when the children were asked where potatoes come from. Many thought: Tesco! We wanted to bring a real understanding of food, farming and cooking.

We started by developing outdoor classrooms for all year groups so the children could spend much of their day learning in natural surroundings. Large planting areas were created for the children to grow a range of vegetables and fruits. The excitement that buzzes around the classrooms when the first tomato or strawberry appears is so wonderful to see: children really absorbed and interested in their learning.

Early in the Autumn the children harvest all the crops which we use for cooking throughout the Autumn Term.  We have created a fabulous purpose built educational kitchen, even Jamie Oliver would be impressed! The children’s blue and white stripy aprons all hanging in a row, waiting for the cookery lesson to begin, is so endearing and brings real character to first hand learning.

Every day there is much activity going on:  chopping, cutting, slicing, weighing  and preparing the vegetables and fruits for various recipes. The children have made a variety of soups, coleslaw, vegetable kebabs, pumpkin pies, apple and blackberry crumbles, tarts and much more this year.