How to find a non-private specialist secondary school?

[von83]

My son is soon to be 13 and for quite some time, he's had his heart set on becoming a chef when he leaves school. He really enjoys cooking. Problem is, his school does not offer much in the way of cookery lessons (as do most schools as far as I can tell). The very little they do teach him at school, he learnt a long time ago at home - he cooks elaborate dishes and bakes by himself, yet at school, their idea of cookery lessons is done in quite a "babying" manner. You obviously get schools that specialise in sports, technology or arts etc., but are there any schools, anywhere (that are not private schools) that offer cookery on a more in-depth level? We are in Liverpool, but open to moving around, so if anyone knows of any, anywhere, I would really appreciate your input so we could look into it more.

www.hughbaird.ac.uk/index.php/what-you-can-study
How about Hugh Baird college in Bootle. He could start in year ten.

I wouldn't have realised a college would do such a thing - thanks for that, that would definitely be a possibility for him, he's in year 8 now, so a couple of years to wait, but it definitely sounds like something he might be interested in.

FE colleges now offer vocational courses to 14-16 year olds as an alternative to school. However you need to be aware that pupils are often those who struggle to cope in traditional mainstream so can be a challenge in terms of behaviour and commitment. Also that environment may not suit the younger student.

Most schools offer food tech, not cookery, so I think this might be a subject that is hard to track down.

But would food tech be useful if he went on to catering qualifications later?

And encourage his love of actual cooking outside school.