Students help York schoolchildren cook up a world tour
Posted on 28 June 2010
Six first year Educational Studies undergraduates organised a ‘Come Dine with Me’ event for year 6 pupils at St Lawrence’s CE Primary School with the support of York Marriott Hotel and York College.
This project has been an excellent opportunity to get our students to put their academic learning into practice while giving something back to the local community
Vanita Sundaram
They spent four weeks working with the school pupils on this curriculum-linked volunteering project organised by the University’s Community and Volunteering Unit and Department of Educational Studies which involves children preparing a range of dishes from around the world.
Kate Harper, of the Community and Volunteering Unit, who has helped to organise the event said: “We hope that ‘Come Dine With Me’ will broaden the horizons of the kids taking part in a whole range of ways. Our students have enjoyed every minute of working with them.”
Vanita Sundaram, lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies, said “This project has been an excellent opportunity to get our students to put their academic learning into practice while giving something back to the local community.”
Year 6 teacher at St Lawrence’s, Rachel Colbourn, said: 'The project has been a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to work alongside students from the University of York. They have been working hard to produce a presentation which promotes a country of their choice, and are fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside chefs from the Marriott Hotel.”
Chris Convery, of Marriott Hotels, added: “We have really enjoyed working with the Children from St Lawrence’s School and this highlights the importance of our spirit to serve the community. Hopefully we have inspired some of the children to be chefs in the future!”
Claire Baxter, of York College, said: “We are really excited to host this brilliant event which is a great example of partnership across York’s education and business sectors.”
The project is part of the wider York Cares Kids’ College, which aims to link real life with learning to help disadvantaged children raise their academic attainment, and to provide them with opportunities to broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations.
The students involved are Peter Bishop, Laura Calsela, James Foster, Jessica Luong, Jane McCormick and Louise Turner.
Notes to editors:
- The University’s Community and Volunteering Unit (CAVU) is based in the Careers Service. For more information about the Unit’s work and how University volunteers can support community projects in York and North Yorkshire contact Jacqui Tesselment on (01904) 432499.
- CAVU provides members of the University with access to small-scale funding via the Community Fund which is supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Active Community Fund and Shepherd Group.
- CAVU is also responsible for delivering volunteering to employees and young people across the city on behalf of the volunteering charity, York Cares and its youth arm, v@yorkcares. For more information about York Cares and v@yorkcares visit www.yorkcares.co.uk.
- Twitter users can now keep up to date with news from the University of York at twitter.com/UniOfYork. A newsfeed is also available at www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news-feeds/.
- York Cares is a registered charity promoting employee-volunteering. Launched in January 2006, it has provided over 1000 opportunities for business volunteers to support local schools, elderly people’s homes and charities.
- The Kids’ College is an exciting collaboration between business, The University of York, schools and their communities. It directs its resources towards primary schools serving areas with considerable levels of social and economic deprivation in York, as indicated by the number of children on free school meals. There is evidence to suggest that initiatives of this kind have the potential to act as drivers for social change, reaching out beyond school boundaries to families and communities.
- York
Cares’ board members are:
- Aviva
- City of York Council
- FERA
- Northern Rail
- The University of York
- York Marriott Hotel
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