Co-curricular activities are an important part of life at Shiplake; a huge range of activities and clubs are on offer for the Shiplake College cohort. Mr Alex Hunt, Head of Co-Curricular, offers the following report on a co-curricular activity which has proven to be incredibly popular with the Shiplake Sixth Form: cookery.
‘Leavers who go on to university soon discover that cookery is a rather vital skill, which is often neglected by 21st century teenagers. To help with the transition from Sixth Form to university, where pupils will have to rely on themselves for food, we are offering a cooking course to our senior pupils. This is being run by Shiplake’s catering company Thomas Franks. Making use of the College’s main kitchen, which is used to cook all meals, Shiplake’s chefs are spending time teaching the students the basics of cookery, including preparing and cooking dishes, and other valuable skills to take with them once they leave Shiplake.
The first eight-week course has just finished, and a group of pupils stepped up to the challenge of cooking curry and rice for entire Shiplake College cohort, including staff, as well as fellow pupils. Mr Hunt commented: ‘cooking the whole school supper was a big challenge and the pupils really stepped up to the plate! Cooking is a really important skill to develop, and as well as learning the basics, the kitchen staff are also giving guidelines on nutrition. Hopefully this means that Shiplake pupils will have a well-rounded diet at university and beyond, and won’t live off pizzas!’