New Govt initiative

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/13/parenting-vouchers-boots-government-scheme_n_1512491.html

I wonder if the courses define the "bounds of normal parenting"?

Hi Chris.....I have never heard the like!!!!

Years ago when I was working (clerical) for the NHS , one days delivery Men were bringing in the Clinic, new desk, chairs and office equipment into
one of the Rooms in the Clinic. It turned it was for a new venture provided by the NHS called "Sure Start"....teaching teenage Mothers how to cook .!!!
There were 7 Staff and when one of them was letting me know she would be out for the rest of the afternoon I asked where she was going. To the
Home of a teenage Mother to teach her how to make a Shephers Pie.....I kid you not!!!!!

This latest scheme is just as ridiculous , no wonder Britain is in such a state.

CAN'T YOU BUY SHEPHERD PIE FROM A SUPERMARKET,DID THEY IN THOSE DAYS HAVE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO COOK IT ON THE PACKET IN THOSE DAYS.

Badboy wrote:CAN'T YOU BUY SHEPHERD PIE FROM A SUPERMARKET,DID THEY IN THOSE DAYS HAVE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO COOK IT ON THE PACKET IN THOSE DAYS.

They're only £1 at Iceland!

I remember being told that most of these single mothers had been brought up in care homes and I asked why they weren,t taught to cook in the Home.

Society in Britain has deteriorated to such an extent that it is literallyy out of control . Elderly people who have contributed all their working lives are
being means tested , A Friend of mine.s Mother 96 yrs old , because he was living with her and they had bought their Council house years before were
penalised. Because she couldn't wash herself properly was told she would have to pay £6 to use the Hospital special Chair.

Yet a young girl is allowed to get pregnant even though she can get free contraceptives which means she and her baby are housed, receive all the
Benefits for years to come and her Parents bear no responsibility for her.All they have to do when she discovers she is pregnant , wilfully in many
cases, is write a letter to the DHSS saying she cannot live with them .

It makes me so mad.

Sure Start was a good project when properly supported and funded. I have seen it work well. If more young people knew how to make a decent meal out of some fresh mince, a couple of carrots, an onion and some spuds, we should have more healthily and cheaply fed children... not getting fat on endless reheated expensive chips meals from KFC, and more ready to learn when they are in school. A fair proportion of young people who end up unexpectedly with a child are determined to see that child has a better start in life than its parents. Making the best of a bad job maybe... but I admire the determination and effort of some of those youngsters who may have had zilch in the way of advantages themselves... I went to a Grammar School in the 1950s and we WERE fortunate enough to be taught how to make shepherd's pies and other cheap nutritious family meals... along with the Maths and Physics and Latin and Greek! Bring back healthy eating information and cookery in school!

comperedna wrote:Sure Start was a good project when properly supported and funded. I have seen it work well. If more young people knew how to make a decent meal out of some fresh mince, a couple of carrots, an onion and some spuds, we should have more healthily and cheaply fed children... not getting fat on endless reheated expensive chips meals from KFC, and more ready to learn when they are in school. A fair proportion of young people who end up unexpectedly with a child are determined to see that child has a better start in life than its parents. Making the best of a bad job maybe... but I admire the determination and effort of some of those youngsters who may have had zilch in the way of advantages themselves... I went to a Grammar School in the 1950s and we WERE fortunate enough to be taught how to make shepherd's pies and other cheap nutritious family meals... along with the Maths and Physics and Latin and Greek! Bring back healthy eating information and cookery in school!

Morning comperedna, I too went to a Grammer School where we were taught to cook, but let's be honest, there has never been so many Cookery Books
available , T.V. Programmes giving cookery lessons . The problem with obesity in children today is Parents who lead busy working lives find it much easier to use the microwave. Soft drinks and crisps make up many a child's lunchbox today. There was a T.V. Report only days ago that Britain has
the highest rate of obesity in Adults and Children and treatment is a drain on the NHS .

The primary school where I work has cookery classes and they each have a class once a week.


When I went into the room where they did some cooking they had cooked pies and muffins....what a lovely smell and the food looked delicious!!!


They absolutely love there cookery class and she varies it every week for them...they cooked quiche the other week and it looked very edible lol...they also did there own salad to have with it!

They did pizza last week and one little boy was very proud off it even though it was thick on one side and very thin on the other, nonetheless, it was his pride and joy ......he was 6 or 7'


Ok you may think that's not very healthy but it gets them interested in cooking and they enjoy making it and seeing the end product...it makes them feel good about themselves and to see there faces with what they have cooked makes me laugh....I was offered the salad last week, after it had fell out off the plastic bag off course, I declined and made an excuse that my dinner was already waiting for me at home!!!!!!

comperedna wrote:Sure Start was a good project when properly supported and funded. I have seen it work well. If more young people knew how to make a decent meal out of some fresh mince, a couple of carrots, an onion and some spuds, we should have more healthily and cheaply fed children... not getting fat on endless reheated expensive chips meals from KFC, and more ready to learn when they are in school. A fair proportion of young people who end up unexpectedly with a child are determined to see that child has a better start in life than its parents. Making the best of a bad job maybe... but I admire the determination and effort of some of those youngsters who may have had zilch in the way of advantages themselves... I went to a Grammar School in the 1950s and we WERE fortunate enough to be taught how to make shepherd's pies and other cheap nutritious family meals... along with the Maths and Physics and Latin and Greek! Bring back healthy eating information and cookery in school!

Most schools now have what they call "Healthy eating," programmes in their dining halls, but how a dried up dish of white pasta, a white flour baguette with a slice of cooked ham (with sodium nitrite preservative) or a thick slice of pizza can be called "healthy eating," is beyond me.

"Healthy eating," is now part of the Food Technology curriculum, but once again, it's not what I'd call healthy eating! Lots of white pasta and white rice.

I've worked in quite a few children's homes, which may have changed since I worked in them, but at the time all the food was cooked by care staff or a full-time cook. In larger homes, where there were quite a few older children, on the point of moving on, the residents were given a sum of money each week with which to go shopping for their own food for the week. They invariably bought burgers, fish fingers, oven chips, doughnuts etc. A staff member went with them. At one home, where I went with the young people to do their shopping, a lad had put a CD in with his shopping and the other staff member said that was OK: his choice. Staff handled the money at that place. So, anyway, we get out to the car park and the lad, who has been given the receipt so that he can budget his allowance, goes back into the store with the CD in his pocket and, crafty so-and-so, gets a refund for the CD! Cash in pocket! Staff reaction? Well, if he wants to starve for a few days!

kitti wrote:The primary school where I work has cookery classes and they each have a class once a week.


When I went into the room where they did some cooking they had cooked pies and muffins....what a lovely smell and the food looked delicious!!!


They absolutely love there cookery class and she varies it every week for them...they cooked quiche the other week and it looked very edible lol...they also did there own salad to have with it!

I joined the PTA when my Sons were in Primary School and used to help in the Cookery session where the children were 5 or 6, so the most they "cooked" was melted chocolate with rice crispies . They enjoyed it and were given a cupcake of the mix to take home . As I say with the massive
increase in Women working and the microwave meals available , nutrition has been the loser.

Panda wrote:

kitti wrote:The primary school where I work has cookery classes and they each have a class once a week.


When I went into the room where they did some cooking they had cooked pies and muffins....what a lovely smell and the food looked delicious!!!


They absolutely love there cookery class and she varies it every week for them...they cooked quiche the other week and it looked very edible lol...they also did there own salad to have with it!

I joined the PTA when my Sons were in Primary School and used to help in the Cookery session where the children were 5 or 6, so the most they "cooked" was melted chocolate with rice crispies . They enjoyed it and were given a cupcake of the mix to take home . As I say with the massive
increase in Women working and the microwave meals available , nutrition has been the loser.

Imo ready meals have never been cheaper. Iceland has meals at £1 and they take at most around 7/8 minutes to microwave.

'home economics' was taught when I was in secondary school - which I did an o level in.....most state senior schools in the uk now no longer have the facilities....although private generally do.....here in the middle east - they do cookery lessons in the secondary school my daughter attends - boys also made to do this lesson.

However its not really up to teachers to teach how to cook basic recipes - surely this should be in the home?

mariang wrote:'home economics' was taught when I was in secondary school - which I did an o level in.....most state senior schools in the uk now no longer have the facilities....although private generally do.....here in the middle east - they do cookery lessons in the secondary school my daughter attends - boys also made to do this lesson.

However its not really up to teachers to teach how to cook basic recipes - surely this should be in the home?

Most state school have Food Technology rooms. And they all offer GCSE in the subject. In fact, after quite a few years of working as a Food Tech teacher in many schools as a supply teacher, I think I could say that all state secondary schools have Food Tech rooms, fully equipped.

Odd - that wasnt what i had heard???? However been out of the uk for a number of years!!!!

mariang wrote:Odd - that wasnt what i had heard???? However been out of the uk for a number of years!!!!

Yes, they've all got 2/3 Food Tech rooms in addition to rooms for "Textiles." It's not "Home Economics," any more, but Food Tech is compulsory to year 9 and very popular as an option for GCSE and A Level.

Yes I have just checked my daughters school here - its the same - now known as DT - up to year 9, can be taken as a gcse (british curriculum) - my daughter in year 10 and didnt choose it!!!! Mind you she can cook!!! - mainly through 'watch with mother' lol!

Not sure of uk but they have to do PHSE here throughout school years.....and of course we have arabic language lessons which are compulsory until year 10 - 3 - 4 times a week!!

mariang wrote:Yes I have just checked my daughters school here - its the same - now known as DT - up to year 9, can be taken as a gcse (british curriculum) - my daughter in year 10 and didnt choose it!!!! Mind you she can cook!!! - mainly through 'watch with mother' lol!

Not sure of uk but they have to do PHSE here throughout school years.....and of course we have arabic language lessons which are compulsory until year 10 - 3 - 4 times a week!!

DT, (Design Technology) comprises several subject areas. All pupils take all of the subjects in rotation until year 9, when they choose 1 or two, depending on the school, for GCSE.

that Home Economics and before that Cookery and Nutrition is still going under the name of Food Technology. I've been retired for too long to know. I do remember when I was a schoolgirl there used to be some problems when some children were not able (parental hostility, or claims of poverty, genuine and otherwise) to be able to bring the ingredients, and somehow some spare ingredients got found up, but it was a popular lesson and pupils took home their efforts with pride. I certainly did. It was not a demo lesson by the teacher... You had to do it yourself. I bet people on here showed their own children (boys and girls) how to cook for both fun, and for information to be stored for when they got to live on their own... and later maybe had a family. Sadly some kids don't get that. Now on TV it is all posy, posh, tarted up restaurant style dishes a la this and that, where celeb chefs show off, and fiddle around with food, to flambe this or decorate that. Good old Delia Smith used to be a Home Economics teacher. She knows all about healthy eating, balanced diets and economical cookery on budget. It would be nice to see her in TV plain cookery classes again. Aaaaaaah. Maybe I have gone off at a tangent... but it is important... innit?

This is a particularly apposite thread today!

My 12 year old's school has had a closure due to a flood. She has taken over the kitchen and is confidently making fairy cakes via video conference with her classmates, because they enjoy doing food tech. and cookery so much. The school and the food tech. teacher are obviously doing a good job at encouraging them. Although, she's always been involved in home cookery and owns several childrens' cookery books including a Roald Dahl one.

The cakes actually look really light and tasty. That's my after tea snack sorted then

twins and a slightly older boy... They love having a go at cooking things... under close supervision of their mum or grandparents, natch.

Great thread
My three used to come home from school asking for chips for tea because "that's what their friends were having" I always made a 'proper' meal every night and we ate as a family. That seems to have gone now with parents having to work etc.
Enjoy your cakes, Alfie. I wish mine would still make me cakes. My daughter makes them with her 3yr old but there's never any left me!

ETA Have fun with your grandchildren, comperedna

A few years back my OH was talking to a guy who was a landlord of several properties.
One of his tenants told him that he had no money left and no food. He felt sorry for him and gave him £20 to get some grub in. He later found out that, instead of stocking up on the basics, he'd gone and bought a couple of takeaways - and was skint again.
I wonder if domestic skills are not being passed on from generation to generation quite as much as they used to be.
I watched my mother cooking and baking and in turn my kids watched me. (One of my daughters saw me removing the giblets from a turkey and shrieked:'Ooh Mam, what has he been eating!')
My OH does fabulous scrambled eggs learned at his mother's knee.
And I remember hearing how Raymond Blanc acquired his skills from his Maman.
I can recall Home Economics at school and the teacher was not very child-friendly. The lessons were dull, she was dull, and tbh there was a lot of unnecessary 'faffing about' which would never have fitted into a busy domestic routine. I especially recall 'How to clean your cutlery with jewellers rouge' - very useful for a future modern lifestyle (not). It was under these stultifying conditions that I produced my first egg custard tart and took it home. I wouldn't eat it because I was sick of seeing it. The family wouldn't eat it either. Someone ended up giving it to the dog. He buried it in the garden in disgust.

These days we grow our own produce (as far as is possible). And cook everything from scratch (as far as is possible).
From Plot to Plate - it's a lovely way to live.

I wonder if the 'rothley' household children cook with mother? Somehow I cant see it? Mind you, surely you can get sea bass fillets at a local supermarket?

I think the uk supermarkets have a lot to answer for....although we have supermarkets here - none of the uk chains (apart from some waitrose products) and there are no 'tv dinners' to be bought here (plenty of fast food chains though) I had a friend who spent a few years in germany, and she was a busy career lady and didnt have a lot of time for cooking - she moaned that the german supermarkets had no 'ready to go' meals - - she said you really had no choice but to cook from scratch.

My mum had a part time job not that many years ago in iceland (on the checkouts) and she said the amount of girls (pushing prams and a few hanging on the side) spent a fortune on ready made food......and she also mentioned the size of them!! Vast amounts of carbohydrates I would think!