Heelands School Pupils Get a Taste For Hands-on Healthy Eating at Cookery Class With A Difference!

13th July 2010: Year 2 pupils from Heelands School in Milton Keynes today found out for themselves how healthy food doesn’t have to be boring! Twenty nine excited pupils and five teachers spent the morning with Mark Godbehear, head chef at The Swan in Salford, who showed them how to prepare some of their favourite dishes such as pizzas, burgers and chips but with a fresh, healthy twist!

The morning started with the children chopping and blending fresh fruit to make delicious, mouth watering smoothies. It was then out to The Swan’s very own herb garden to harvest some key ingredients for the main course. The children then watched with great interest as Mark talked them through how to make homemade pizzas, fresh chicken goujons, handmade burgers and healthy chips. They then had a turn to get stuck in themselves and help prepare the wholesome feast.

While the main courses were cooking the pupils turned their attention to preparing dessert which was a colourful, fresh fruit salad served in scooped out whole pineapples to add the fun factor.

Throughout the morning the children heard how Mark chooses ingredients for his menus and how cooking with fresh, seasonal foods can make such tasty treats.

By lunchtime, 29 hungry children tucked into the fruits of their labour - a delicious feast that each had helped to create.

“The basis for a long-term healthy diet has to start when you’re young,” explains Mark Godbehear, head chef, The Swan Salford. “This is why it’s really important for children to see for themselves the value and health benefits of fresh, seasonal produce and to understand that healthy food doesn’t have to be boring.”

Mrs Lesley Barnard, Headteacher, Heelands School comments, “When the team at The Swan approached us to take part in this healthy eating cookery class we jumped at the chance, as promoting healthy eating throughout our school has been a priority for some time now. There’s no substitute for such practical hands-on learning and it’s obvious from the children’s enthusiasm that they’ve got a lot out of it. I think the teachers picked up a few handy tips too!”