The Teachers’ Day, part of the 6th formers Summer School at Reading –15-17th July 2013

The 6th formers Summer School was held in the University of Reading from the 15th till the 17th July. It was sponsored by the IFST and various food companies. The 6th formers spent three days in the University and took part in a very intensive programme of activities including a series of demonstrations about various aspects of food and nutritional sciences (day 1), talks and practical experience in different areas of food and nutrition (day 2) and an informative session on careers in the food industry by industrialists (day 3).

The Teachers’ Day was held on the second day of the Summer Course (16th July) in parallel with the sixth formers’ course. This year we had seven teachers attending from St Crispins school in Wokingham, in , Kendrick girls Grammar school in Reading, Tring School in Herts, in Maidenhead, Westgate School in and in Newbury. All except one Science teacher were teaching Food Technology and/or Nutrition.

The teachers attended the morning talks together with the sixth formers on various research areas the department is very active on: (i) probiotics and (ii) flavonoids and their impact on health. These are very topical areas and of interest to teachers as found out by talking to them in previous courses. Then they were taken for lunch to the University Senior Common Room together with the morning speakers and other members of staff from the Department. This was a unique opportunity for the teachers and members of staff to exchange concerns and ideas about the Food Technology curriculum in secondary schools and recruitment to degree courses in Food Technology/Nutrition. The teachers found this also a fantastic opportunity to exchange information and ideas about their teaching.

In the afternoon they took part in an interactive session with one representative from IFST and one from RSC. In this session the representative from these two organisations were able to inform the teachers about their online resources for teachers. Then the chair of the Outreach group and the Head of industrial training talked on degrees in Food and Nutrition and career prospects.

Finally the teachers were taken by one of our undergraduate helpers to see the practical sessions held in the laboratories and pilot plant. Overall they were very happy and complimentary on the day as they found the course interesting and informative. Some commented: ‘Was excellent in all ways’ ‘I'll recommend it to other teachers and 6th formers for next year’ ‘I mostly enjoyed the probiotics lecture’

Paula Jauregi 28th July 2013