Launching this month, the new scheme TeachFood will see the creation of a nine-month campaign featuring a variety of tools, resources and support networks designed to educate and attract aspiring food teachers.
Resources include the TeachFood toolkit, an online platform delivering videos, graphics and case studies from food teachers, as well as information on how to pursue a career in food teaching. In addition, a questionnaire will also be shared with those who engaged with the platform, with questions to help indicate the likelihood of users entering the food teaching profession following the campaign.
The news of the project comes after the recent ‘Teachers Labour Market’ report from the National Foundation for Educational Research, highlighted that ten out of 17 secondary subjects are likely to under-recruit in the new academic year, with overall secondary recruitment forecast to be around only 61% of target.
Data from the latest ‘Education and Training Statistics for the UK’ government report shows there were only 3,745 teachers for food technology classes for the 2022-23 academic year – a drop of 4% compared to 2021-22 and marking the tenth year in a row that food teacher numbers have fallen.
Alongside a lack of teachers, issues such as inadequate food technology facilities in schools are only compounding the issue further.
Angela Maher, chief executive at The Savoy Educational Trust, said: “We’ve seen in recent years that although the number of students studying hospitality and food-related courses at secondary schools has increased there are not enough food teachers to deliver in the classroom, which is very worrying.
“Schools are telling us that they have really strong interest from students wanting to study these subjects, but many are having to limit numbers due to the shortage of teachers and more help is needed to fill these specialist roles.
“We hope our funding will enable the Food Teachers Centre to promote food teaching in schools, attract more teachers into the profession, and allow more students to undertake this important and worthwhile study option.”
The TeachFood project will be led by Louise T Davies, founder of the Food Teachers Centre, as well as education consultant Roy Ballam.
Louise said: “Alongside helping increase interest and applications for food teacher roles, TeachFood also aims to tackle the many misconceptions and stereotypes around food teaching in schools and interest in it from secondary school pupils.”
Data from Ofqual shows that 52,520 pupils studied GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition courses in the 2022-23 academic year – an increase of 3% compared to 2021-22 and a 16% increase when compared to 2018-19 records.
She added: “This increase shows there is a growing interest in the field among young people, yet the government data shows that there are simply not enough food teachers in the field to facilitate the teaching required.
“Government support is also lacking when it comes to helping address this, with food teaching in particular not seen as a priority when it comes to the wider teaching crises we currently face – which is why there is a real need for a project like TeachFood to help tackle this very important issue.”