Cherilyn went to Arnwood school, which started as a secondary modern and later became a comprehensive. Cherry took O levels and A Levels there and went on to train at Battersea College of Education.
Cherry is currently acting head of the design & technology faculty and a house co-ordinator at Brecon High School, where she has taught since 1978. There have been many changes to the subject during her time in teaching from domestic science and housecraft to home economics and more recently to food technology. When preparing for That'll Teach 'Em, it made her realise how demanding the O Level and CSE syllabuses were.
When she first started teaching, only the girls took the subject and in the second year the more academic were creamed off to take Latin, so there was a 'Cinderella' stigma attached to the subject.
Cherry believes it is a positive step to incorporate food technology into design technology. However, she thinks food technology doesn't address many current issues such as obesity in children or the dangers of eating too much processed food. Moreover, she believes the population is becoming de-skilled and it is not enough for children to be taught the skills and pleasures of cooking through after school cookery clubs or a one off visit by a cookery bus.
Top of page
| 
