A TEACHER at Trinity High School is cooking up a storm with students missing the lessons and camaraderie of school.
Cat Kirk, who teaches Food, Nutrition and Science at the Redditch town centre school has launched her own ‘how to’ cookery classes – Kirky’s Kitchen – on YouTube.
“I wanted my students to feel like they were not alone and still had some interaction with school life,” said Cat, who describes herself as ‘obsessed with travel, all things food, cooking, eating, reading cookery books, looking at food and nutrition and fitness’.
Working on the idea that not many students would have access to scales, she’s come up with a host of easy to do recipes using simple ingredients but producing tasty results.
“It’s such a great subject – so many of the students love cooking and we have a great uptake of the subject at school,” said Cat.
Recipes range from Healthy Granola to Plain Flour Bread and Soda Bread – neither of the last two requiring strong flour normally required for loaves.
There’s also a range of sweet treats like Banana Muffins and seasonal ones too, like Easter cup cakes, while the recipe with the most hits is Cat’s gluten free Banana Pancakes.
“I weigh out the ingredients then convert them into dessert spoonfuls in case the students don’t have scales – it’s about making the recipes accessible,” said Cat, who’s been teaching at Trinity for six years.
And the response has been positive from students.
“My video editing skills aren’t brilliant but I’m working on it.
“The kids love cooking and they are emailing me their results and saying things like ‘it’s really nice to see a face that we know’ and hopefully all this is helping them,” she said.
One fan is headteacher Adrian Ward: “He’s really supportive, he wants to make sure the students feel like they’re not forgotten and this is something where they can all get involved.”
To visit Kirky’s Kitchen, go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcTGuaXcOmC_WdwcagYEcEg
