Baby & Toddler Group Windhill School

Read about it here

See the pictures here

Toddlers Toddle at St Ives Estate 12th Nov 09

Read about it here

See the pictures here

Family Cook and Eats Nov 09

Read about it here

See the pictures here

Family Cook ‘n’ Eat summer sessions at Windhill

What the children said:

What the parents said:

This idea was a response to interest from parents from both local schools.  Thanks to Ellen (Extended Schools Involvement Worker) funding allowed us to have Family cook and eat sessions in the centre during the summer holidays.  The aim was to give parents/carers an opportunity to bond, spend quality time and develop cooking skills with their children as well learn about healthy eating.  It was also a chance for children  over 10 to join in as they had missed out on what their younger brothers and sisters had been doing at school.  The family cook and eat sessions ran three times a week and were very popular.  We had different age ranges, genders and families ranging from one parent to both parents attending the sessions.  The sessions also gave families an opportunity to try new recipes.  Every session was different; every family was different and they all wanted to try different recipes.  The most popular recipes were Pakistani Curries and Starters. We made oven sheesh kebabs, oven samosas, oven naan bread and even oven Pakoras!!!  Delicious!

 All the recipes were adapted to healthier versions; they were low on budget, low on fat, salt free and extremely tasty!  Parents/Cares were able to see how easy it was to cook a quick, healthy meal on a budget.  All of the Parents/Carers said after preparing a homemade curry, they would never buy a curry from a takeaway again!

Overall the sessions have been a real success.  The most important outcomes of the sessions were that the families have had an opportunity to spend quality time together and that the children have been able to use and build their new and old skills in the kitchen, are more confident and as a result are NOW able to help at home. Last but not least the children were allowed to be children, express likes and dislikes and most importantly to have FUN - so much fun that they didn’t want the sessions to end!  Some of the families want the sessions to continue once the school term begins.  They would like the sessions to be held after school at the community centre. This is something we will now look into.

Our trip to ….

A group of us went to the N.E.C, Birmingham to see celebrity chef James Martin in action, and enjoy free food tasting from around the world. 

 What people said about the trip:-

This trip was planned as an incentive by Nazia (Nutritional Development Worker) for those attending cook and eat sessions, café volunteers and local residents.  It was an opportunity of a life time for some and for others a great motivation to keep on trying to eat healthily.  The trip was part funded by the café for the transport and took place in June.  We had 13 people altogether who came for different reasons.  We were booked to see James Martin, who was fantastic ….although not always healthy!  It was a memorable day out that benefited individuals in different ways, from quality time together, to seeing James Martin cooking live!  There was also a lot on offer from food and drink tasting to freebies!  

The toddlers had their own walk on 7 July.

Sponsored Toddlers Toddle

This event was organised by Angie, the parental involvement worker at Windhill School.  Angie approached Nazia and asked if she would like to be part of this toddle for the Barnados charity.  Nazia thought it was a fantastic opportunity to promote walking and healthy eating.  After several meetings the sponsored toddle became a half a morning event where the parents and toddlers had the opportunity to play in the play area at Manningham Park, do the toddle and end the morning with a teddy bears picnic.  Nazia brought some fruit and some salad for the picnic, which went down a real treat.  There was a healthy pack lunch competition and believe it or not everyone did extremely well with the choices of pack lunches as they were all healthy, as a treat everyone got a piece of chocolate for trying so hard.  The event was such a success that it has led to more discussions around toddles to take place in Sept and throughout Jan 2010.  It was a great day overall and the children raised a fair amount of money for the charity. 

Here are some comments people made:

“This has been a real enjoyable morning”

“Beats sitting at home”

“Can we do more walks like these around parks in Bradford, with the picnic and play activity?”

“I wasn’t keen on coming out this morning but it was the best decision I made - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!”