Cooking Challenge

Posted at 12:44 pm on 27th April, 2021

At Flixton Girls School we have undertaken various initiatives to understand the impact of the COVID restrictions on health, wellbeing and learning, through surveying our student body. This has provided important insights into the lives of our students both in and outside of the school community.

Following our latest student voice survey, we have seen an increased number of students who feel that the time is takes to prepare a healthy meal prevents them from eating healthy. With lockdown restrictions easing and the whole school community having less time on their hands we felt a quick, affordable and healthy cooking challenge could provide a healthy boost our students and their families.

This challenge was laid down to our entire year 8 cohort, with the aim to show them how quick and affordable it is to whip up a nutritious meal; whilst also having that feel good factor of making it themselves. Students had a choice of two recipe bags, at a cost of £4, each including at least one of their 5-a-day. Each bag also included all weighed ingredients, recipe card and a QR code link to a video demonstration.

The challenge took place over the Easter Holidays, which meant our technicians and operational staff pulled together to complete the tasks of buying, weighing, wrapping and bagging an average of eight ingredients per recipe, for four separate recipes for the entire year group. The choice of recipes was vegetable chilli, fruit crumble, fluffy pancakes or feta pasta. Students collected their recipes of choice, during a military style operation whilst departing on the last day of term.

Well done to everyone who assisted in this team effort and congratulations to all our students who participated and uploaded photographs of their home creation; they looked fantastic and very professionally presented. As part of the challenge all those students who submitted their cooking challenge photos to their Google classroom were entered into a prize draw for a £20 Amazon voucher.  The prize was drawn at random and the lucky winner was Saniya from 8JB.

Saniya commented, ‘For the cooking challenge, I made Cajun Potatoes and banana pancakes, which I really enjoyed making! My parents helped me with peeling the potatoes. I was really happy to find out that I had won the competition, but I’m not sure what I will spend my Amazon voucher on yet.’

Mrs Foxley, Director of Health and Wellbeing for the Healthy Learning Trust and challenge coordinator said, ‘We hope that everyone enjoyed the cooking challenge and provided a boost to you and your families wellbeing. Cooking is a family orientated activity which can be enjoyed as a group, from recipe inception ideas, shopping and preparing ingredients, cooking and eating. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, we hope this challenge has opened up more thoughts and ideas to sharing family experiences and eating to sustain a health lifestyle!’ 

Parental feedback from social media,

‘Easter morning breakfast whipped up by the little lady, thanks to @FlixtonGS for the lovely recipe bags they sent all the girls home with.’

‘Daughter made us all tea tonight, freshly made tomato and feta pasta. @FlixtonGS’