Home » Leweston Seniors » Curriculum » Home Economics/Food

Home Economics/Food

Cookery is very popular at Leweston and a particularly essential life skill needed by girls in a boarding environment. Practical lessons are included in the core curriculum and are compulsory for Years 7, 8 and 9, where girls learn the basic skills they need to be able to cook. AQA Food and Nutrition GCSE is offered to Years 10 and 11, for those girls wanting to gain more advanced cooking skills and have a sound understanding of the basics of nutrition. Girls in Year 13 attend themed cooking sessions, where they learn to cook balanced, healthy, economic meals to prepare them for life after Leweston.

There are many opportunities to enjoy and participate in cookery at Leweston either through lessons, clubs or extra curricular activities. Clubs regularly offered are Cookery Club, Sugarcraft, Competitive Cookery, Herbal and Therapeutic Nutrition and Make and Eat Your Own Beauty Products. There is also an extremely popular Prep School Cookery Club.

Food is always a popular choice for celebrations and events and we try to incorporate as many requests from the girls, as we can possibly fit into the calendar. Each year we celebrate Chinese New Year with a party organized and cooked by the Chinese boarders. They plan their celebration menu, organise shopping, spend a whole day cooking and preparing the meal, which they serve to and share with invited members of staff and girls. The event is a great experience and a lot of fun for both the international students and their friends. Photos can be viewed in the February News archive.

Year 7 celebrated the end of their first year of cookery by cooking a 3-course lunch for themselves and invited guests: the headmaster, the deputy head and Father Richard. They also prepared afternoon tea for their year, head of year, tutors, academic staff and Father Richard. Both events were a great experience in planning and preparation. Photos from these events can be viewed in the June 2009 News archive.

The girls are encouraged to enter cookery competitions to develop their skills and gain confidence in their ability. A Year 10 student, cooked for Saturday Morning Kitchen chef James Martin and, came runner up in the regional final of the QSM Beef Mince Young Chef Challenge held at Bristol Catering College. Five Year 9 girls entered the 2009 Rotary Club Young Chef competition, taking first and second place to go through to the district semi final in Chippenham, where one of them won second place and went through to the regional final. A lot of effort was put in by the students, from which they achieved great success and had lots of fun.

This year we introduced our first parents’ sugarcraft workshop. Parents from both Prep and Senior School enjoyed a day of cake baking and decorating. Plans are in hand to run further workshops to prepare for Christmas. Christmas cakes will be baked and stored, a follow up session will be held to complete the decoration.