What is cookery?

Cookery teaches children how to prepare, cook, and enjoy food while learning the principles of healthy eating, nutrition, and where our food comes from. It gives pupils practical skills—chopping, mixing, measuring, tasting—and helps them understand how ingredients are grown, reared, caught, and processed. Cookery is part of Design and Technology, so children also explore creativity, problem-solving, and making dishes for real people with real needs. It is a practical life skill that supports independence, wellbeing, and confidence.

Why do we teach cookery?

We teach Cookery because learning to prepare simple, healthy food is a vital life skill—one that helps children feed themselves confidently now and in the future. Cookery builds independence, teamwork, resilience, and creativity, while helping pupils understand how to live healthily and make informed choices. It also develops cultural capital by introducing children to foods, traditions, and ingredients from different cultures. Through shared cooking experiences, pupils Belong as part of a supportive community, Believe in their strengths as they learn new skills, and Achieve by creating dishes they are proud of.

How we teach cookery

At Vermont, cookery is taught through practical, step-by-step sessions where children prepare, cook, and taste a variety of mainly savoury dishes. Pupils learn safe use of equipment, key cooking techniques, and how to apply the principles of a healthy, varied diet. Lessons build teamwork, communication, independence, and problem-solving as children follow recipes and explore seasonal ingredients. In every session, pupils Belong in a supportive kitchen environment, Believe in their growing skills, and Achieve through creating dishes they are proud of.