Cookery club

[iwantedtobenamedTalie]

The senior school my children attend is proposing a cookery club. AIBU to think this might not be a safe? Is there any guidance I can read? Many thank for your comments

What is unsafe about cooking? So long as the classroom is big enough to social distance, why would this be a problem?

So probably not enough info. My children are day students. Cookery club will be in a boarding house kitchen where boarders are in a bubble. (Effectively their home) Hope that makes sense. Just concerned about cross contamination and little fingers in bowls and spoon licking etc. Y7/8 if that helps. This happens in my kitchen. Not sure a teacher will be able to police this. Happy to be told IABU

Children in Year 7 and 8 are 11/12. Surely they're old enough to understand not to put their fingers in bowls, they're not 5!

They really shouldn't be licking the spoon etc in years 7/8 (although I do remember being told off for licking my fingers in cookery in year 8 but we weren't sharing bowls and only my family were going to eat it!)

I suppose it depends on whether they are making stuff together or each person making their own; and the staff : pupil ratio.

The kitchen will and equipment will be cleaned down after use. I’m a catering manager of a secondary school kitchen, the cleaning regulations are stringent in regular times and even more so with COVID-19. I do a cooking club after school once a week and the kids from years 7-9 are great at following instructions (given that they are not toddlers)
The kids get a great amount from the club and it is extremely popular. They will be taught how to safely use the equipment and how to conduct themselves in the kitchen. My 9year old daughter is able to use a knife to cut salad/veg/raw chicken breast safely so I imagine kids several years older can manage.

I volunteer To run the cooking club out of my own personal time (the school funds the ingredients) I know a lot of staff at my school and others run clubs after school and don’t actually get paid for that hours work. It is incredibly annoying and disheartening when parents complain about it and discourages people from bothering. There would have been a risk assessment done so trust the school. Or simply don’t send your child and let somebody else have the space in the club