Secondary students enjoy online cooking classes

VCE VET professional cookery teachers Michael Ng and Gabi McCarthy are delivering practical lessons from their home kitchens to keep students' online training interesting during Stage 4 lockdown.

As part of the program for Vocational Education and Training delivered to secondary school students, the teachers are encouraging their students to join in with live cooking classes including baking cheesecake, chocolate brownies and learning to make sous vide eggs.

Michael said normally in this subject, called Kitchen Operations, there would be a term of theory, followed by a term of practical cookery lessons and then a term in one of the training facilities on campus either in the Angliss Restaurant or in the Angliss Bistro.

"Due to COVID-19 first lockdown we were forced to extend theory lessons as we couldn't do the practical in our training restaurants and we then developed these demos and cook along classes to keep students engaged.

"We normally have between 8-10 students that cook along with us every week. Students were asked what they would like to see made. We send the students the recipe every week and they can collect the ingredients before class and cook along via Zoom," Michael said.

"The student feedback has been really positive and students have been enjoying the lessons and eating the fruits of their labours. Of course there are challenges with internet sound and dropout issues, and it is sometimes hard to see what all the students are doing on the screens," he said.

Fellow teacher Gabi McCarthy, who has also been delivering her own cook-along classes said some of the benefits are watching the number of kids joining in and also seeing their parents in the background watching.

"Next week a student has volunteered to do a demonstration of her famous cheesecake and that will be incorporated into the cook along Zoom class too," Gabi said.