The Food Teacher™ Founder and Director, Katharine Tate (BEd Hons, FAETC, Dip ION (Distinction), BANT, CNHC, ANP), has worked as a teacher and education consultant internationally in primary and secondary schools for over 20 years. Qualified as an award winning registered nutritional therapist, Katharine, combines her unique education and nutrition expertise to offer schools, organisations and families advice, education programmes, practical workshops, and individual/family clinical consultations. She has written and published several books: ‘Heat-Free & Healthy’, the award-winning ‘No Kitchen Cookery for Primary Schools’, a series of Mini-Books and has also co-authored the award-winning ‘Now We’re Cooking! Delivering the National Curriculum through Food’.
Chef Patti Sloley, is an inspirational chef and author specialising in Ghanaian food. She has lived in the UK since 1985 and is enthusiastic and passionate about sharing her knowledge and expertise.
She loves to celebrate the diversity of food and has written two fusion focused cookery books; ‘A Plate in the Sun’ and ‘A Date with Plantain’.
If not working with children Patti writes for magazines, has appeared on TV, presents at food festivals or is front of house and resident chef at Jean-Christophe Novelli Academy in Hertfordshire. In his cookbook Simply Novelli he describes Patti as his, “Culinary spiritual sister, an oceanic breath of fresh air”.
Marie Reynolds (B.Ed, M.Ed), The Food Teacher™ Education Consultant, is a highly qualified teacher with teaching experience in the UK and Ireland that spans over thirty years. She has taught successfully across KS1 and KS2, promoting stimulating environments that are conducive to learning and foster happy, responsible, independent learners. She has worked collaboratively with many very skilful and experienced teachers in planning, preparing and assessing curricula, in addition to co-teaching with colleagues. She has co-authored the internationally award-wining ‘Now We’re Cooking! Delivering the National Curriculum through Food’.
Ellen Tuck (B.Ed Hons), The Food Teacher™ Education Consultant, has over 30 years teaching experience in the Primary sector. She has been a senior leader for 25 years with extensive experience of initiating and leading innovations within schools. She has successfully managed teaching teams and been responsible for leading the Arts, Design and Technology and IT. Consequently, her school achieved the Arts Council’s, Artsmark Gold award, in three successive rounds. Sustainability and the environment have been personal passions. By embedding this ethos, she led her school towards achieving the ECO Green Flag award. Ellen believes that lasting impact can only be achieved by involving the whole school community.
Jo Norman, The Food Teacher™ Administrator, has over 25 years experience as a Secretary and Personal Assistant. She worked in London as a Medical and Academic PA for a leading NHS teaching hospital and in Harley Street before establishing her own company as a Virtual PA. Throughout her career Jo has created effective working relationships, at every level, within a variety of organisations and enjoys working closely with clients to support their administrative needs.
Nicola Tapp (BSc Hons, Dip CNM, BANT, CNHC) , The Food Teacher™ South West Regional Ambassador, is a qualified and registered naturopathic nutritionist. Aside from supporting schools to engage with and deliver the Young Chef Awards she has also worked with schools to train school cooks, develop food policy and culture, design healthy provision and has been part of the ‘Gold Food for Life Catering Mark’ team. Nicola also engages in community work supporting vulnerable groups with healthy eating and runs a Bristol-based naturopathic nutritional therapy practice (Well Healthy Nutrition).
Endorsed by:
Sam Bourne (Registered Nutritional Therapist and Author of Nutrikids)
Sam is a naturopathic nutritional therapist and Yoga teacher with a background in creative design and photography. She is passionate about how diet and lifestyle affects health, working with people individually to help optimise and improve wellbeing through better understanding of how we eat and live could be affecting physical and mental health. She created the NutriKids characters when her children were very young to help them understand why healthy foods are so important and was able to bring them to life in books years later. She was awarded a Social Entrepreneur Award in 2017 for her children’s books.
Endorsed by:
Dr. Mark Spencer (GP)
From Healthier Fleetwood who piloted the Young Chef Award for Years 5 and 6 (ages 9-11) in 2017 with 450+ pupils.
“The Young Chef of the Year is essentially about improving nutritional knowledge and cookery skills for the children that take part. Cookery is a life skill and, coupled with healthier eating choices, will bring life long health benefits for our children. Much more than that though it’s also about raising children’s aspirations, opening their minds to new experiences and to new possibilities.”
