School wins cook book award

A school is celebrating after winning an award at the world renowned Gourmand Cookbook Awards – known as the Oscars of the cooking world

Charlton Manor Primary School’s first book, Now We’re Cooking! Delivering the National Curriculum through Food has won a Best in the World award in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. A formal presentation will take place on May 28 in China.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards received entries from 215 countries.

Previous Gourmand award winners include Michel Roux, Paul Hollywood and Jamie Oliver who endorses and wrote the foreword for the book.

It was co-authored by the school’s headteacher Tim Baker, nutritional therapist and author, Katharine Tate and qualified teacher, Marie Reynolds.

Now We’re Cooking provides teachers  at the school in Indus Road, with exemplary lessons, which have proved engaging and motivational for pupils.

They said: “For our book to have won from more than 26,000 food and wine books produced each year is a huge achievement.

“As a school we encourage children and families to think about what they eat and to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

“When writing the book we set out to use our expertise to support schools to put food at the top of their agendas.

“The impact of developing school food culture can have wide-reaching benefits included greater engagement, improved long-term health and community inclusion.

To get this level of recognition for this book is an amazing achievement.”