What teachers are saying about
nom! Schools

Earlier this year, some wonderful people from Foodbank WA visited Cassia Primary School in South Hedland to facilitate the nom! Schools healthy eating and cooking program with my Year 6 students.

We spent a productive afternoon learning about healthy eating, discussing knife and kitchen safety, and participating in a cooking workshop. The students worked in teams to prepare their own meals, making several dishes including Crazy Corn Dip, Rainbow Salad, Faster Pasta, Rainbow Rice, and Coco Loco Balls. At the end of the session, each student received a recipe booklet and a resource about Superhero Foods.

I found the incursion to be immensely valuable. Not only were the students introduced to new foods and recipes—which they surprisingly enjoyed—but the experience fostered teamwork and collaboration. It was heartening to see students taking responsibility, cleaning up after themselves, and even doing the washing up! Their compliments toward each other’s cooking had a noticeable positive effect on their self-esteem.

Due to the success of this program, and at the students’ request, the other Year 6 teachers and I have incorporated more food-based activities into the curriculum. For example, during Semester 2, we planned a unit on Australian agriculture and food production, and another unit on beverage nutrition, which involved designing, preparing, and marketing fruit smoothies.

Opportunities like the nom! Schools healthy eating and cooking program are invaluable. My students live in a part of Australia where fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and dairy are not always available, and when they are, they can be prohibitively expensive. Exposure to these foods is critical for their physical development and nutritional awareness. I highly recommend this incursion.

More praise for nom! Schools:

Very useful discussion about food groups and the specific macro nutrients they relate to, which felt very appropriate for the year levels and made it more engaging for them to learn new information or connect other concepts they have heard about. Cooking activities were a great way to reinforce collaboration with the students and push them to attempt different tasks that seem complicated.” – Teacher 1

It’s well worth our students been exposed to food groups, knife safety and a cooking lesson.”– Teacher 2

“Enjoyed seeing my students get excited for cooking up a dish. Loved the end product, everyone coming together to share each other’s dishes.”– Teacher 3

nom! Schools is proudly funded by Mineral Resources and Pilbara Minerals, who’ve supported this Foodbank WA program to reach over 1300 students so far in 2024.