The meat industry entered the classroom recently when catering butcher Owen Taylor & Sons joined up with David Nieper Academy in Alfreton.
As part of World of Work Week, the butchers visited the school and spent time running activities with the students.
Year 8 pupils enjoyed a week of activities, including designing team logos for aprons, creating packaging and producing food for a Ready Steady Cook style competition.
With over 40 years’ chef experience between them, Owen Taylors’ Jon Creed and Nigel Winn acted as the judges.
Witty team names included ‘Only Food and Sauces’ and ‘Grated Expectations’, and it was said that the students entered the competitions with enthusiasm.
“The quality of food produced was outstanding and the students were so polite and fully engaged in what they were doing. It was very impressive” said judge Jon.
Meanwhile, the Year 10 students followed a format that was successfully introduced last year for its World of Work Week by the head teacher Dr. Hobbs.
Their week included work-based workshops, CV writing and interview skills, using public transport to visit a university and team building exercises.
Owen Taylors also hosted a Burger Challenge for the entire year group. Divided into 11 teams, students were asked to produce a new burger (both raw and cooked) alongside designing attractive packaging and calculating the allergen and nutritional information.
Lee Gould, Owen Taylors’ food safety manager, supervised the burger production.
He said: “There was a real buzz in the production area with all the students getting involved with mixing the ingredients for their chosen seasoning and spices, and using the burger press.”
The school said that the week has proven to be an important part of the students’ curriculum, helping them gain important work and life skills that make them more employable for the future.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
