I did cooking at school, but by the time we were allowed to use a cooker (about the age of 10), my Mum and Grandma had taught me to cook and I could do a full roast (with a little help getting the hot roasting tin out of the oven - it was too heavy for me to do it safely at that age!). I used to get into trouble in school cooking lessons for doing things my own way instead of how the teacher said it should be done!!
My daughter (now 21) did 'technology' at school - in a 7-week half term they had to 'design and make a chilled layer dessert'! That was it!! They spent 4 weeks 'researching', 2 weeks making their dessert (which was basically crushed biscuits, yoghurt and fruit in a pot) and the 7th week 'evaluating'!!! That was the sum of her 'cooking' lessons at school for that year!! The following year they did actually cook a few things - she, like me, regularly got told off for doing it her own way (in particular, not using salt, as we don't use it at home). Lady P can cook and bake anything she turns her hand to, having spent her whole life watching and helping me and her grandma cook meals from scratch.
