Our Year 10 students have recently taken part in an exciting and inspiring project in collaboration with professional chef Zena Weeks from Cooking for Champions.

Zana, Natalie and Harry brought a wealth of industry expertise to the project. Zena works with Premier League and England footballers including Aston Villa player Morgan Rogers and Newcastle United player Jacob Ramsey, alongside other elite athletes, providing tailored nutrition to support training, recovery, performance, and long-term wellbeing.

The project aimed to bring nutrition to life through a real-world challenge. Students were tasked with planning and preparing dishes for a Premier League footballer, focusing on meals that would support performance and recovery around matchday. As part of the brief, students created a Shakshuka pre-match breakfast and a banana and chocolate cake for post-match recovery.

We are incredibly grateful to local employer Tara Group, who kindly secured funding through The Noel Sweeney Foundation. This charitable trust was established to support communities across the Midlands and continues the legacy of founder Noel Sweeney, with a strong focus on supporting grassroots projects and young people.

Our thanks also go to Burntwood Be a Friend, who supported the initiative by helping source ingredients in partnership with our local Aldi, Lidl and ASDA stores.

To make the experience even more memorable, Zena arranged a special good luck video message from professional footballer Jacob Ramsey, which was shared with students ahead of the challenge – take a look below!

This project is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when schools, local businesses, charities, and community groups come together. We are incredibly proud of our students – and deeply thankful to every organisation involved for helping us create such a meaningful and memorable experience.