Let’s Get Cooking Programme
The Let’s Get Cooking Programme is a cross curricular and progressive skills based programme for primary schools in Jersey, which teaches children the fundamentals of nutrition and how to prepare simple meals from scratch - a key skill in living a healthy lifestyle.
Children begin their journey on the programme in Year 1, where they learn simple techniques such as spreading butter to make a sandwich, snipping herbs and measuring using a spoon. By the time children reach Year 6, in their final year at primary school, they are able to confidently use the bridge and claw grip, handle raw chicken whilst understanding cross contamination, and use heat independently to make a risotto.
When children leave primary school, they will have the skills and knowledge to cook 30 recipes from scratch and be armed with all they need to know about making healthy food choices in the future.
The programme doesn’t just teach skills, it involves many other discussions around food such as portion sizes, the Eat Well Guide and where food comes from. This not only provides the children with an engaging learning opportunity but encompasses other areas of the curriculum such as Geography, Science, PHSE and History.
Each week, recipes are sent home with the children, and parents and carers are encouraged to try the meals at home, giving benefit to the whole family.
This programme is truly changing lives, and we have only just begun our journey – we plan to touch the lives of thousands more primary school children in Jersey.
So far, we have seen fantastic results resulting from this programme:
· 89% of children try at least one new food that they wouldn’t have otherwise eaten.
· 71% of children have experienced a positive change in their eating habits.
· 61% of families are using the recipes at home to cook with their children.
We are incredibly proud to report that 100% of the Headteachers we work with agree that Let’s Get Cooking has had a positive effect on children’s reading, writing, numeracy, confidence and motivation.
You can read our Impact Report to see the full benefits this programme brings to our community in Jersey..