A Mansfield school has beaten off competition from across the UK to be shortlisted for the Belling Cookery Club initiative to win £2,000 worth of cooking appliances for their school – by asking pupils to design a healthy meal.

Cooking and nutrition now form part of the curriculum across the UK but only an estimated 25% of primary schools have a teaching kitchen or facilities – meaning many pupils don’t receive practical cookery experiences.

British cooking brand, Belling, launched the Belling Cookery Club competition to address that by giving primary schools the chance to win cooking equipment in order to offer more practical classes and help the next generation to learn new kitchen skills.

Sutton Road Primary School in Mansfield has made the shortlist of just ten schools nationwide, and will face a public vote, with the two best supported schools both winning £2,000 worth of Belling kitchen appliances to improve their teaching facilities.

To enter the competition the Year Five class all drew pictures of a healthy meal and described why they liked the foods and why they were healthy.

Katie Biggs and Rumeha Asim’s entry was chosen to be submitted for the competition. Katie and Rumeha, both aged nine, created a nutritious salad, consisting of tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, sausage, potatoes and Feta cheese – items which cover many of the main food groups.

Assistant head teacher Miss Mitchell explained that the growing school has very few cooking facilities, but is keen to raise the importance of cooking food from scratch and promote healthy eating both in school and at home. She said: “In the past, we have run a healthy eating workshop, but this has relied upon what equipment we can borrow from teaching staff, parents, the community and the local council.

“Our school would benefit from becoming a Belling Cookery Club, as it would raise the profile of cooking with our children and promote cooking food from scratch and healthy eating in school, as well as with parents. The new appliances will also improve the quality of provision we can provide, and what the children can actually cook during that time.”

Jane Rylands, Head of Marketing Communications at Belling, said: “We believe that all children should have the facilities to cook at school, giving them skills to last a lifetime, but the reality is that only a small number of primary schools have the correct appliances and space to be able to offer this.

“We’re urging local people to get behind Sutton Road to help them win these appliances, which will help the next generation to embrace a love of cooking.”

The public vote will be conducted via the Belling website