On 1 March 2010, Alan Gibbons, author of 55 bestselling children’s books, many of which our children have enjoyed, came in to talk about his work. A former teacher who published his first book at the age of 35, Alan likes to write books about the real world. He’s written a wide range of books, including some science-fiction, and his favourite children’s writer is Bali Rai who also visited us last year.
Asked what single message he wanted the children to take away with them after meeting him, he said, “Read! If you read regularly for pleasure, school is easy. In every school I visit, the children who read lots are the ones in the top sets.”
Also on 1 March, Chris Keates, the head of the schoolteachers’ trade union, NASUWT, took time out of her hectic schedule while she was in Birmingham to drop in and meet the membership at Great Barr School, one of the country’s largest schools. The School has an excellent relationship with the teaching trade unions, and management and staff representatives work hard together to deliver positive change for our pupils. Ms Keates, recently dubbed by The Independent as ‘the gentle face of trade unionism’, met and chatted to the membership about some of the major national issues facing the profession.
On 12 March, we played host to Steve Love, a top chef who is currently working on the development of healthy, attractive foods for schools. Voted Development Chef of 2003 by the Guild of Chefs, Steve trained as a chef in the Royal Navy. He was, at one time, chef on the Royal Yacht Britannia, the Queen’s private (and very posh!) ship, and he told some of our Year 11 Catering students how he has travelled to every continent in the world but he’s only ever had to pay to go abroad twice in his life; most of his travelling has been done as part of his career.
Steve made a range of savoury and sweet dishes for the children which were low in fat and salt. The savoury dishes utilised some new mixes from Schwartz; we are one of the first schools in the country to get to try them out. He made Moroccan Lamb (my favourite!), Chilli Con Carne and Chicken Fajitas, and a range of delicious cakes. The children had chance to taste these dishes free of charge at lunchtime. Other pupils stood by with their clipboards to take feedback on what the children thought. This information will be fed back into our own menu planning.
