Teacher flies to Switzerland for classroom inspiration

An East London teacher will be flying to Switzerland in the New Year, after winning a science and nutrition competition for primary schools.

Sally Peckover, from Redlands Primary School in Stepney Green, was the winner of Food for Thought, a UK-wide competition organised by Discovery Education and Alimentarium Foundation as part of a drive to boost children’s learning about food.

The Reception class teacher will make the journey to Lake Geneva in January, where she will meet experts at the Alimentarium Museum, an international public learning centre for food and nutrition. Sally will gather ideas to take back to the classroom and spend time in Geneva as part of her prize.

Sally was announced as the winner at the Food For Thought teaching event in London last month. The Southbank summit brought teachers, scientists and health experts together to discuss ways of improving food education and pupil wellbeing.

Speaking ahead of National School Meals Week 2017 (13th-17th November) Sally said:

“I am absolutely delighted to have won the opportunity to visit the Alimentarium museum and of course Switzerland!”

“I am hoping the experience at the museum will inspire me with some fresh ideas for our children to use in their cooking classes. I hope to build upon their current culinary skills and improve their knowledge of what nutrition means and the important effects different foods have on our bodies.”

Food For Thought is part of a 3-year partnership between Discovery Education and Alimentarium, which aims to improve young children’s learning about nutrition. Delivering exciting new classroom resources to spark pupil interest and events to connect teachers with experts, the collaboration will help schools to focus on food education, and boost pupil health and wellbeing.

Laura Turner Laing, Director of Corporate Educational Partnerships at Discovery Education said:

“It’s never been more important for schools to put health and wellbeing at the centre of their teaching. We’re delighted to be able to give Sally the opportunity to visit Alimentarium, to tap into their expertise about nutrition and to gather ideas which can be shared with the whole school community.”

The Discovery Education Alimentarium partnership is already delivering exciting new science and nutrition resources to classrooms across the UK. Available to schools through Discovery Education Espresso’s award-winning learning platform, the content takes a fresh approach to science teaching, using dynamic videos and games to appeal to young learners.

New resources launching this month include interactive food games Nutrix and Tubix, designed to teach pupils about the biology of eating and the importance of a varied diet. Children can also learn about the energy value of foods with fun character game Yamy and The Food Pyramid.

Discovery Education Espresso is one of the UK’s leading digital learning services, delivering dynamic curriculum matched content to 1.8 million pupils across the UK. The Eating, Moving and Growing games and resources are available to schools with a subscription to the service, and schools interested in a free trial can request one here.