GCSE: ENGLISH TODAY UNIT 1:SCHOOL MEALS

1. BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE PRESENTATION OF THE HEADING TO ‘NORA’S NOTES’

2. WHAT DO THE LETTERS LOOK LIKE?3. WHY DO YOU THINK THE WRITER HAS DESIGNED THEM

LIKE THIS?

NORA’S MID-MORNING BREAKLast autumn, after we introduced Jamie’s lunches atKidbrooke School we decided to get rid of all the junkfood at mid-morning break. As I no longer sold chocolatebars and crisps, I suffered a loss of income for the school. Ihad to work out how we could start selling healthy snacks,things we could prepare quickly in the kitchen on a dailybasis, with a good margin and which would sell at snacktypeprices.It’s really important for the children to have somethingnourishing to eat at break time, especially as some of themhave clubs at lunchtime and so might miss the lunch timeservice.We tried selling cereal and fruit bars for a while, but theyweren’t very popular, which I was actually quite pleasedabout as I was very wary of the additives that were inthem. The following snacks were a success:SNACKS FOR MID-MORNING BREAK• baguette with cheese and salad or tuna• panini with ham, ham and cheese, or cheese• cheese on toast with tomato sauce using crusty ends ofbread• tortilla wraps with fresh chicken• popcorn• fruit salad• carrot cake• flapjack• shortbreadWHAT’S HAPPENED AT KIDBROOKEThe kidsThis autumn we’ve got the first intake of primary childrenfrom other schools in Greenwich serving Jamie’s menus.They came for an induction day in the summer and it wasreally good to see them all enjoying the healthy food withno fuss at all.I’m really strict about making sure the staff put everythingon the plate, so that every child has to take a completemeal. This way, we’re slowly getting the children to eateverything and they’re definitely eating more vegetables.

We even ran out at Christmas dinner last year, whichshows they’ve changed their habits!We have also found that it is a good idea if you can asksome of the older children to help serve and put the saladon each plate. The younger children seem to be muchmore inclined to take it if someone they know is serving it.The kitchen staffA year on, all of my team want to cook the healthy food.They take pride in their work and they’re very committedbecause it’s really interesting, they’re not just cooking thesame old thing. We have a rota system so that over aperiod of time, everyone takes part in all the jobs.They love preparing the fresh food. There’s a completelydifferent atmosphere in the kitchen. Sometimes they taketips they’ve learned in the kitchen to try at home too.The extra hours needed to do the fresh prep are still aproblem though.Jamie’s menuAll of Greenwich schools are now using all fresh meat andvegetables. It’s a good idea for everyone in your localarea to meet up to help encourage each other and toshare ideas and tips. We did this in Greenwich with cooksfrom other schools and it was very helpful.All of the chicken dishes are bestsellers.The balsamic beef recipe is very popular, especially withnice fresh mashed potato. We have it on the menu allthrough the year but in the winter it is one of the children’sfavourite choices.We have proper Cumberland sausages which, again, weserve with fresh mashed potato along with red onion gravyand a choice of fresh vegetables. We get much betterfeedback from the children (and more empty plates) onthese sausages than we did when we used frozensausages.

1. BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE LAYOUT OF THE TEXT-what does it look like?

2. WHY DO YOU THINK THE WRITER HAS DESIGNED IT LIKE THIS?

NORA’S MID-MORNING BREAKLast autumn, after we introduced Jamie’s lunches atKidbrooke School we decided to get rid of all the junkfood at mid-morning break. As I no longer sold chocolatebars and crisps, I suffered a loss of income for the school. Ihad to work out how we could start selling healthy snacks,things we could prepare quickly in the kitchen on a dailybasis, with a good margin and which would sell at snacktypeprices.It’s really important for the children to have somethingnourishing to eat at break time, especially as some of themhave clubs at lunchtime and so might miss the lunch timeservice.We tried selling cereal and fruit bars for a while, but theyweren’t very popular, which I was actually quite pleasedabout as I was very wary of the additives that were inthem. The following snacks were a success:

3. Read the first paragraph and decide what the PURPOSE of the article is, why has she written it?

4. UNDERLINE ALL THE ADJECTIVES IN THIS SECTION

Jamie’s menuAll of Greenwich schools are now using all fresh meat andvegetables. It’s a good idea for everyone in your localarea to meet up to help encourage each other and toshare ideas and tips. We did this in Greenwich with cooksfrom other schools and it was very helpful.All of the chicken dishes are bestsellers.The balsamic beef recipe is very popular, especially withnice fresh mashed potato. We have it on the menu allthrough the year but in the winter it is one of the children’sfavourite choices.We have proper Cumberland sausages which, again, weserve with fresh mashed potato along with red onion gravyand a choice of fresh vegetables. We get much betterfeedback from the children (and more empty plates) onthese sausages than we did when we used frozensausages.

4. UNDERLINE ALL THE ADJECTIVES IN THIS SECTION

Jamie’s menuAll of Greenwich schools are now using all fresh meat andvegetables. It’s a good idea for everyone in your localarea to meet up to help encourage each other and toshare ideas and tips. We did this in Greenwich with cooksfrom other schools and it was very helpful.All of the chicken dishes are bestsellers.The balsamic beef recipe is very popular, especially withnice fresh mashed potato. We have it on the menu allthrough the year but in the winter it is one of the children’sfavourite choices.We have proper Cumberland sausages which, again, weserve with fresh mashed potato along with red onion gravyand a choice of fresh vegetables. We get much betterfeedback from the children (and more empty plates) onthese sausages than we did when we used frozensausages.

5. What do you notice about all the adjectives?

You may be worried about how you are going to achievethe new guidelines on oily fish, especially as tinned tunadoesn’t count because it loses its omega oils in thecanning process. Two of Jamie’s recipes can have theright kind of fish (mackerel, sardines or salmon) substituted:tasty fish pie and tuna arrabbiata,You can find all of these recipes in Jamie's school pack,which you can download for free from:www.jamieoliver.com/schooldinners.Just keep trying with the recipes – you will eventually findone that the majority of children like. I am going to tryusing tinned salmon in a couple of our regular recipes andsee how it goes. But every school is different so it may takeyou a little bit of time to find the right recipe.

6. Looking at this section, who do you think the AUDIENCE are? Why?