Teachers from Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Dumbarton and Argyll schools have become the second cohort of teachers in Scotland to gain Good Food Champions professional recognition awarded by The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

The newly accredited teachers were part of the programme’s ‘soil to plate’ journey.  This covered all aspects of food education, from planting and harvesting through to manufacturing, food preparation and tasting.

Participants went on trips to working farms, conducted their own research and attended educational seminars and tasting sessions. The teachers also engaged with local experts and organisations, delivered their own training sessions in school and are now successfully championing food-related learning in their schools.  One of the participants said ‘”I am now in a position where I can use research, resources and professional links to enhance my teaching and learning and drive forward our food technology in our school”.

The participating teachers were awarded their qualifications by Education Scotland and GTCS at the Museum of Rural Life earlier this week. Sara Smith, Learning & Development Coordinator at The Royal Highland Education Trust was at the event, and said, “This course aims to engage teachers in all aspects of the food supply chain and they now have the skills and networks in place to move food education forward in their own settings.  The teachers have already started sharing knowledge, through the delivery of their own training sessions”.

The partnership programme is made up of educational professionals from The Royal Highland Education Trust, Soil Association Scotland (Food for Life), The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, Food and Drink Federation Scotland (A Future in Food), Quality Meat Scotland, and the National Museum of Rural Life. The teachers were also supported by a raft of local individuals and businesses.