A Cut Above, Read Mr Lord’s Spirit Fund Story
Spirit Fund donations are used to extend experiences in and outside the classroom, helping students find their passion. Equipment bought for the Food Technology rooms has transformed the spaces into semi-professional kitchens. Head of Food Technology and Hospitality Mr Chris Lord explains what impact this is having on the students.
“We are the only ESF school that offers BTEC Hospitality Level 3 and students are coming to Island School because we have the specialist equipment. The course has become so popular that next year I think we will have two classes. Now we have a brand new computerized combi oven with a built in meat probe. We have a massive brazing pan – which holds 90 liters, enough to serve 200 people.
We have grills, an industry size dish washer, a plate warmer, a bread proving cupboard and new fridges. We also have a complete set of plates and cutlery for restaurant evenings.
This is the first year we are teaching IB Food Science and Technology*, we are still in the pilot stage, but word has spread and now the course is being taught by eight schools on five continents.
The food industry is the biggest in the world and that doesn’t mean just cooking in restaurants or being a chef. There is a broad range of jobs, nutritionists, food technicians in factories, product designers, there are masses of opportunities within food marketing and the business around it. There are so many different careers students can choose from with a Food Technology background.
From lesson one in Year 7 I teach the students that Food Technology is the most cross curricula subject. It links into history and how societies are built up around ecology, farming, industry, culture and languages.
We run four different Elements courses and they are all over subscribed. I have seen lots of students grow in confidence as a result of creating something they are proud of.
Chloe Chau in my IB class – loves cooking. She joined Island School in Year 10 in October and my food class was full. She came to me, desperate to cook and learn more about food and I said ok – I will take one more student because I could see she had passion. Her skills have just developed and developed. Now she is running CAS projects, she is one of the lead people in the health eating CAS group. And she runs Year 7 cooking club and interacts with the Year 7s really well. But there are numerous examples of students like that.
Next we plan to get some stainless steel tables.
*In collaboration with other ESF teachers, Mr Lord wrote the IB Food Science and Technology course and this year it was approved and accredited by the IB organisation.
Please state in the, PayPal note section, where you would like your donation to go, Spirit Fund, Island School Trust Scholarship, The Nicola Myers Kenneth McBride Fund or the John Ying Wah Gibson Memorial Fund. A tax deductible receipt is available on request for donations over $100 contacts, school@online.island.edu.hk
[maxbutton id=”1″]
