Celebrity Chef James Martin will cook up some tasty dishes for primary school pupils when he visits Killermont Primary School on Wednesday 3 February as a prize for winning a Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) and Consumer Focus Scotland Calendar competition.
Demelza Hart of Killermont Primary School scooped first prize in the competition with a design highlighting the importance of having a balanced diet.
The competition invited all primary schools across Scotland to design posters promoting either good food hygiene, healthy eating or food allergy awareness. The organisers were delighted to receive over 4000 entries from 224 primary schools.
The overall standard of the designs was excellent, however, the judging panel felt that Demelza’s design put across the message of the benefits of a healthy diet and physical activity exceptionally well.
A further 11 highly commended designs, along with the winner, feature in the 2010 calendar.
James Martin will give a cookery demonstration to pupils, teachers and families, and present a framed print of the winning design to Demelza as part of her prize. He said: “I am delighted to be visiting the school to celebrate its success and hope the demonstration will encourage more youngsters to become involved in preparing healthy meals at home.
It’s also important that young people learn that doing simple things like washing your hands thoroughly and making sure food is properly cooked can make a huge difference in helping to prevent food poisoning.”
Head Teacher Elspeth Smith, said: “We are all delighted that Demelza has been chosen as the overall winner of this competition. I am confident that the competition and the publicity from the calendar will benefit all of the children at Killermont and that they can take the messages learned into their homes as well.”
Professor Charles Milne, Director of the Food Standards Agency Scotland, said: “The competition is a fun way of encouraging young people to think creatively about the Agency’s key messages of food safety, eating for health and allergy awareness. It captures our vision of ‘Safe Food and Healthy Eating for All’.”
Douglas Sinclair, Chair of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: “The inventiveness and originality of this year’s designs are a credit to all of the young people who entered the competition. It shows that young consumers can learn more about these important issues while having fun at the same time.”
In addition to winning the framed print, Primary 3 pupil Demelza was awarded £300 and her school received £1000 to spend on an FSAS approved project.
For further information, or to obtain pictures of the presentation/cookery demo, please contact:
Ryan Norton on 0141 227 1852 or email ryan.norton@consumerfocus.org.uk
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. The 12 winning designs for the 2010 calendar are:
Overall Winner
Demelza Hart, Killermont Primary School, Bearsden, Glasgow
Highly Commended
Lucy Aitken and Veronica Owen, Drymen Primary School
Amy Maclean, Culter School, Peterculter
Fergal Aberdeen, St. John Ogilvie Primary School, Irvine
Louisa Gudgeon, Hillside Primary School, Dundee
Sorcha Turner, St. Cadoc’s School, Newton Mearns, Glasgow
Kyle Jenkins, Tulliallan Primary School, Kincardine
Alistair Tennant, Braehead Primary School, Braehead
Shona McKenzie, Barcaldine Primary School, Near Oban
Amelia MacTaggart and Megan MacLean, Lochnell Primary School, Argyll
2. The judging panel who chose the winning designs were:
Marion McArthur and Elspeth Macdonald, Food Standards Agency in Scotland
Liz Breckenridge, Consumer Focus Scotland Board Member
Claire Brown, healthyliving award
Anne Gibson, Community Food and Health (Scotland)
Alison Blamire, ARCADE Architects
Anne-Marie Sandison and Kelly Leishman, Consumer Focus Scotland
3. Killermont Primary School is situated on the east side of Bearsden, within a residential, suburban community. The staffing complement includes a head teacher, two depute head teachers, one principal teacher and eleven class teachers, one nursery teacher and four early years workers. The curriculum at Killermont is broad and well planned, in line with current national advice. Pupil participation is encouraged, the Pupil Council, ECO Committee, Global Citizenship Group, Health Committee, Website Committee and Clean Up Team are all very involved in the life of the school. The school was awarded its first ECO School Green Flag award in 2004, its second in 2006 and third in 2009. An active Parent Council and an enthusiastic PTA support the work of the school.
4. James Martin Biography – James Martin has made a great impact since he began to appear on television in November 1996 and has rarely been off screen since. Currently he’s gracing our screens as presenter of BBC1′s hugely successful Saturday Kitchen, regularly attracting viewers in excess of two million (double the amount of viewers when James inherited the show). He was a regular team member on Ready Steady Cook (BBC 2) and in Autumn 2006 gained a whole new army of fans with his new found prowess on the dance floor in Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1) where he reached the semi-finals.
5. The Food Standards Agency is an independent UK wide government department set up as a food safety watchdog to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relations to food.
6. Consumer Focus Scotland is rooted in over 30 years of work promoting the interests of consumers, particularly those who experience disadvantage in society.
7. School (£1000) and Pupil (£300) Prizes
• School Prize – Will contribute towards the purchase of a projector and screen for the school.
• Pupil Prize – To purchase a trampoline.
Media Contact
For more information or to attend the demonstration, please contact Ryan Norton, Communications Manager on 0141 227 1852.