Life Skills Room Grand Opening

Selly Oak MP, Steve McCabe, was at Cherry Oak school on Friday 4th of October to open the new life skills room.

The new life skills room will include a kitchen area and the focus will be on preparing and cooking food. The room has been partly funded by the 'Healthy Pupils Capital Fund'. This was a one-year grant available from 2018 to 2019 funded through the sugar tax levy. Cherry Oak have used the money to help ensure their children are able to develop vital skills involving the preparation of healthy meals. In the long term, the school hope to use the room to host a weekly cafe and possibly a shop to develop a young enterprise project with the support of parents. The room will also be used by parents for training and other meetings. 

Amy Findlay, Head of School at Cherry Oak, said: 

'Cherry Oak School are delighted that Steve McCabe is supporting us with our official opening of our new life skills room. Cherry Oak School is a school for pupils with special needs that need additional support in all areas of their learning.  

Our curriculum is designed to support all the pupils overcome their barriers to learning and prepare them for life and the next stage in their learning journey. Developing their life skills and independent living skills is an essential part of our curriculum. This new room will enable our pupils to have focused lessons in a fully equipped space to develop their ability to prepare and cook food alongside other life skills.’   

Steve McCabe said: 

‘I am grateful to Cherry Oak for inviting me to be a part of the launch of their life skills room. It is a fantastic school and I was not surprised to learn that the Federation of Cherry Oak School and Victoria School had won an Outstanding Governance Award earlier this year. 

Cherry Oak’s use of money from the sugar tax, to help fund a room to develop cooking skills, is a good example of just how resourceful some of our schools can be despite the really tough funding environment. I look forward to meeting some of the staff and pupils and hearing more about the ways in which they plan to put the room to good use in the future.’