Centre: Jamie’s Ministry of Food Geelong
Location: Geelong, Victoria
The first VCAL group from Christian College to participate in the Jamie’s Ministry of Food program in Geelong has resulted in many positive outcomes for not only the individual students, but the school itself.
Setting the students up with life skills was a priority for Christian College and the program has benefited the students on a personal level. Aside from the nutritional and health benefits the students acquire from learning to cook from scratch, Deborah has noticed the students’ self-management skills and independence increase. Communication and teamwork has also developed throughout the 7 week course.
Employability skills for the future was also a factor for sending the VCAL students through the Jamie’s Ministry of Food program, to experience the learning outcomes in a work-related environment. Student Justin is also training to be a chef, currently working in 2 restaurant kitchens with plans to study full-time next year. Justin enjoyed sharing his passion for food with his peers and they in turn picked up lots of tips from him, Justin discovered that ‘everyone has different techniques’ in the kitchen.
From our experience with group cooking classes, Jamie’s Ministry of Food recognises that the program provides life skills and builds confidence in the individual. The program’s core is about food, but what happens over the 7-week program extends to social connectedness and teamwork competency.
The group worked really well together: feedback from the students in regards to teamwork included what they learned from their fellow participants. Some comments from the students include; ‘cooking is better with others around’, ‘cooking is more enjoyable with friends’ and many of the students have proudly cooked some of the recipes at home for their family.