Pre-planning
Role-playing the problem
The goal for the unit was that each class of students would "come up with a healthy lunch option and then develop that product for their stakeholders". Jo and the other teachers planned how to present these ideas and themes to the students in a way they felt would grab their attention best.
"There had been a drive towards children eating healthier lunches," says Jo, "so we looked at it from that perspective. Also, I, the other two teachers, and quite a few of the kids are involved in sport, so we thought about what would be nutritious and healthy and used that aspect to hook the kids in."
They also decided that a key way to ensure full participation of the students was to begin with a live role play in assembly. This involved Elspeth playing a tired mother with Jo and Jon as her two active children – all were looking for a healthy and delicious lunch alternative to the traditional meat pie. At the end of the role-play, the students were asked what they thought would be a good solution to this problem.
Research visits
Without telling the classes that they were actually going to produce the outcomes, the teachers asked the students to come up with some ideas on what might be feasible solutions to the role-play situation. By the end of term 1, the students had contributed a number of ideas and eventually narrowed these down to three suggestions: pizza for Year 4, wraps for Year 5, and sushi for Year 6.
This gave Jo and her team time over the break to work out what each class would do with those meals and how they would go about researching their manufacture. Local industry was brought into the equation, with the teachers contacting restaurants about the possibility of bringing the students into the workplace to see how these meals were made at an industry level. The fact that most of the businesses she contacted were extremely accommodating impressed Jo, as she understood that health and safety is often a huge concern when children enter a workspace.
