Dame Prue Leith Launches Free Cookery Videos and Resources for Primary Schools Across the UK

In an exciting development for food education in the UK, Dame Prue Leith, renowned chef, restaurateur, and author, has helped launch a major new initiative to put practical cookery skills into the hands of primary school pupils right across the country.

This initiative, led through Leiths Education, makes quality cooking resources available completely free to non-fee-paying primary schools and pre-schools across the UK. It’s a big step towards getting children excited about food, nutrition and the skills they’ll use for life.

Why This Matters

For decades, practical cookery lessons have been squeezed out of many primary school timetables by curriculum pressures, staffing issues and lack of facilities. As a result, the majority of pupils weren’t getting consistent hands-on experience in preparing and cooking food. Recent research revealed that more than 75% of primary pupils had not received regular cookery lessons before Leiths’ programme began its pilot phase. Dame Prue’s response? Don’t let that learning gap continue.

What Schools Can Access

The Leiths Primary Programme offers a full suite of cookery resources designed especially for younger learners in Key Stage 1 and 2. All of these are available at no cost to state primary schools and include:

✔ Chef-led cook-along videos step-by-step lessons children can follow in class or at home

✔ Printable lesson plans and PowerPoints for teachers

✔ Recipes with scalable ingredient lists suitable for classroom cooking

✔ Student worksheets and activity sheets to support hands-on learning

✔ Cross-curricular links (e.g. maths, science and food safety) mapped to the National Curriculum

The programme is built to fit into regular school days and doesn’t rely on specialist kitchens, meaning even schools with limited facilities can run fun, practical lessons.

Why Videos Make a Difference

One of the most exciting elements of the programme is the cook-along videos, led by experienced chef educators. These videos are designed to be engaging, easy to follow and suitable for classroom delivery, enabling children to learn by doing rather than just reading a recipe.

By following along with a professional chef, children build confidence with basic skills like:

• Washing and preparing ingredients safely

• Using everyday kitchen tools appropriately

• Combining ingredients to make simple, tasty dishes

For many pupils this can be their first experience learning practical food preparation — something that has long-term benefits for confidence, independence and healthy eating habits.

Benefits Beyond the Kitchen

Teachers involved in the pilot phase of the programme reported a whole range of positive outcomes:

• Improved cooking skills in pupils

• Increased understanding of healthy eating

• Greater confidence with following instructions

• Better teamwork and engagement in other subjects like maths and science

This shows that practical cooking isn’t just valuable for learning how to make food — it supports wider educational outcomes too.

What Dame Prue Said

At the national launch of the programme, Dame Prue Leith highlighted her long-standing belief that learning to cook should be part of every child’s education — regardless of their background. She said that giving children practical skills, along with an understanding of food and nutrition, sets them up for a lifetime of healthier choices.

A Legacy of Culinary Education

Leiths Education has a long history of excellence in culinary teaching — and this free primary programme builds on that tradition by making expert cooking education accessible to all. It’s a move that recognises food skills as essential life skills: something every child deserves the opportunity to learn.

Final Thoughts 🍽️

In a world where diets are increasingly dominated by convenience foods and where many young people have never learned to prepare a simple meal, Dame Prue Leith’s free cookery resources for primary schools are a breath of fresh air.

Whether it’s through playful cook-along videos or thoughtful lesson plans, this initiative is helping schools unlock the joy of cooking — and teaching children skills that truly last a lifetime.