This term, students from KS4 and KS5 in the Food Studies Department took part in three enriching educational trips, each spread across different days. These visits strengthened curriculum learning while giving pupils hands‑on experience in real food‑industry environments. Trip 1: Young Innovators Food Conference 2025 Students attended the Young Innovators Food Conference 2025 at Barking & Dagenham College’s Technical Skills Academy, where they participated in culturally diverse, sustainability‑focused cooking workshops delivered in partnership with ‘Be Inclusive Hospitality’. Guest chefs—including Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya, Natalie Sheridan, and Sara Assad Mannings—inspired students with recipes and stories rooted in Filipino, plant‑based, and Palestinian food traditions. Working in professional kitchens, pupils explored new ingredients, gained confidence in practical cooking, and learned about career pathways in hospitality and food innovation. Trip 2: Billingsgate “Seafood by Design” Practical Workshop Students also took part in the Seafood by Design programme at Billingsgate Market, led by seafood expert CJ Jackson . This highly practical experience allowed pupils to handle, prepare, and cook a wide range of British seafood. Activities included pin‑boning fish, preparing mussels and prawns, shaping fish sliders, and tasting dishes such as Goan curry, chilli mackerel, and seafood pilaf. The workshop deepened students’ understanding of sustainability, responsible sourcing, and the nutritional value of seafood while developing their hygiene, knife, and teamwork skills. The day concluded with a reflective Q&A on everything they had learned Trip 3: “Fishmonger for a Day” — Vocational Seafood Skills Workshops The third educational experience brought KS4 students back to Billingsgate Seafood Training School for the innovative “Fishmonger for a Day” sessions. Hosted above the historic Billingsgate Market , these workshops are designed specifically for Barking and Dagenham secondary schools to introduce young people to employment pathways in the food and hospitality industries. Delivered by specialist chefs from the Seafood School, the workshops offered students the chance to: Learn practical fish‑handling and preparation techniques, including filleting and cooking Identify fish species and assess freshness Strengthen kitchen hygiene, presentation, and teamwork—essential skills for professional food environments Understand current industry shortages in fishmongers and “blockwork” skills, making these sessions especially relevant for career exploration Students showing strong aptitude were offered work experience placements with local fishmongers and apprenticeship pathways through the school’s partnership with Direct Seafoods. A Valuable Experience for All Learners Across all three trips, students represented the school with maturity, enthusiasm, and curiosity. Each visit enhanced their understanding of the food industry—spanning sustainability, culinary arts, cultural food traditions, and specialist fishmonger skills. The Food Studies Department is proud of the students’ engagement and looks forward to planning even more exciting learning opportunities in the months ahead.

Our teams have been working incredibly hard to design and refine their prototypes in preparation for the final in March. As part of the challenge, they had the opportunity to participate in a real-world design workshop in London, where they developed physical prototypes of their ideas aimed at tackling key environmental issues affecting the city. Team Aquinity presented their product, Wave Revolution , an innovative solution focused on addressing environmental challenges through sustainable design. Team Green Lung showcased their product, Air Nova , which aims to improve air quality in urban areas and promote healthier living environments across London. Amritpal On Wednesday 14 January, we made our prototype. In team 24 we made two prototype versions one for contexts and one for detail so that we can explain what is inside our product. We have worked as a team by communicating with each other to make sure that we are on the same page. I found it challenging when we had to present our prototype with our unfinished presentation and I found that communication is very strong and more ideas can be developed but some ideas wouldn’t fit the concept Aravind On our trip, Wednesday 14th January, me and my team 23 made our prototype. When we first came in, our mentors gave us a small test to figure out which one was the starting product of a card reader. After that we got handed our logos. Then, we headed downstairs to work on our prototype. Our project manger assigned us pairs of what to work on. I was mostly working on cutting the wood. After it all finished, our team decided implement our logo into our prototype. The most challenging part about this session was that we had to present our prototype but we had excellent communication. Kacie On Wednesday 14th January, me and my team travelled to the London sneaker shop to work with the amazing designers to create our prototype. Both teams got a budget and worked together to decide what materials would be best for the prototype. Then we worked under a time limit to create the prototype and both teams split the work amongst themselves to work most efficiently. It was an overly fun and creative session where we got the opportunity to handle tools that we wouldn’t usually use. We also practised our presentation and communicated as a team on how our project would be best presented. Wish our teams luck ! Mrs McBride , Mr McBride and Ms Hibbit