Twenty four year five students hosted Western Australia’s Minister for Education on Wednesday 12
November and together learned about natural gas benefits and safety , as well as creating healthy
home-grown meals, as part of a recently announced innovative schools program, at the purpose built
ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen in Jandakot.
The ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen schools program was created to teach students about gas safety
in an interactive, engaging and fun learning environment. Minister for Education, The Hon Peter Collier
MLC was on hand to view the program in action as Year Five students from Bertram Primary School
cooked up a storm using fresh and healthy ingredients.
While at the facility, the Minister was invited to sample dishes that included healthy, home-made pizzas
and salads, all prepared by the students with ingredients such as lettuce and fresh herbs sourced from
the ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen’s very own edible alfresco garden.
The hands-on, informative program teaches kids all the joys of cooking with the aim to improve the
understanding of gas safety, particularly with appliances, amongst school-aged children. Students are
taught the location of gas pipelines, how to detect a gas leak and what to do if they suspect there may
be a gas leak.
The program is open to all year five and six students across the Perth metropolitan area and teaches
them how to use gas cooking appliances safely, cooking skills and techniques using their learnings
from the maths and science curriculum, as well as how to make healthy food choices, as they cook a
range of dishes together.
Aligning the program with the Department of Education’s curriculum, particularly in maths and science,
was paramount in the development of the program.
To broaden the learning experience each child receives a booklet containing healthy recipes that can
be made at home and gas safety tips, enabling them to continue their learning experience, sharing it
with their families.
President of ATCO Gas Australia, Alan Dixon, said the ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen was the first of
its kind in Australia and was a proven and fun way of improving awareness and understanding on gas
safety in the community.
“The ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen has a very successful heritage of over 80 years in Canada and we
were very keen to introduce and emulate the program here in Australia,” Mr Dixon said. “We find the
children are much more receptive when they can actually get involved and use all their senses in the
learning process. Listening, touching and, of course, tasting takes the experience to another level and
helps to embed the important gas safety messages into their minds for the long-term.”
The main areas of learning covered in the full-day workshop include gas safety, the benefits of cooking with gas, and healthy food and cooking.
Principal of Bertram Primary, Geoff Hood said it was nice to have a hands-on engaging learning
program that aligned so closely to their curriculum.
“Teaching children about healthy eating is a big focus for all schools right now and this program not
only allows children to learn how to cook healthy recipes but also emphasises the importance of safety
in the kitchen, something we hope they can take home with them,” he said.
Schools are invited to participate in the free program, with only transportation costs to and from the
facility to be covered by the school. The ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen is located at the ATCO Gas
Jandakot Operations Centre.
Comments from Minister for Education Hon Peter Collier, MLC:
“The concept is great and enables the visiting students to be presented with a gas safety message as well as learning about sustainability and healthy eating. It is done in a way that empowers them and puts some responsibility on their shoulders, and for year 5 and 6 students that’s important as these are formative years for them.”
“It is a sensational facility and reflects where we are going in education in Western Australia. The concept of garden to kitchen is becoming much more prominent in schools and to have ATCO Gas Australia as a component of that is really commendable.”
The ATCO Gas Blue Flame Kitchen is fully booked for the remainder of 2014 but registrations for the
2015 schools program are now open.
Please visit www.atcogasbfk.com.au to find out more information.