Lessons in Loaf: a practical guide for teachers to introduce children to Real Bread

As part of its mission to help bring Real Bread back to the hearts of our local communities, the Real Bread Campaign has just launched Lessons in Loaf. This national scheme works to pair professional Real Bread bakers with their local primary schools to pass bread making skills on to the next generation.

The accompanying Lessons in Loaf handbook goes beyond the fun and practical life skill of baking, containing lesson plans, recipes, information and ideas to help teachers get children at Key Stage 2 thinking and asking questions about the food they eat, where it comes from and how it is made. 

Campaign ambassador Tom Herbert of Hobbs House Bakery, recently seen as a member of the chamber of commerce on BBC One’s Turn Back Time: the High Street, and his own BBC Four documentary, In Search of a Perfect Loaf, said:

“I just ran a Lesson in Loaf at my local primary school and it was fantastic to see their faces light up and with messy hands to really get what Real Bread is all about.” 

Lynn Harrison, Head Teacher of Culgaith School in Cumbria, who also took part in the pilot phase of the scheme added: “The children had a great time and lots of fun! We now have plans in the spring term to run a community-wide bread-making day using the children as co-experts.”

Where the Campaign has found a professional Real Bread baker volunteering to teach a bread making class, it contacts schools that are local to the bakery to pass on this offer.  In addition, the handbook includes advice to help teachers run Lessons in Loaf without the aid of a professional baker. 

Part of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme, the Real Bread Campaign champions locally produced loaves and finds ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.   

You can find further information about the Campaign, its work and how to become a member at www.realbreadcampaign.org

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Lessons in Loaf guide contents

Funding

Responsibilities to be agreed between the school and baker

Criminal Records Bureau checks

Working space

Timings

Example lesson plans

Ingredients

Equipment

Suggested core lessons

Core Lessons

• Lesson 1: What is Real Bread? (basic)
• Lesson 2: The essential ingredients of Real Bread (Basic)
• Lesson 3: Health and safety in the kitchen
• Lesson 4: Making Real Bread
• Lesson 5: What did we learn?
• Further Lessons in Loaf
• Lesson 6: How are different loaves made?
• Lesson 7: More about flour
• Lesson 8: Bread and health
• Lesson 9: Real Breads of Britain
• Lesson 10: Special Real Breads from around the world

Experiments

• Gluten washing experiment
• Yeast balloons
• Indoor wheat growing
• Yeast farming

Further suggestions for curriculum links

Worksheets

Useful books and links