+ Where can I run your classes?
Licensed Organic Cookery School tutors can run classes in any suitable venue or setting.
This includes:
- Schools, Nurseries and Children’s Centres
- Universities/Student Unions
- Community/Church/Village Halls
- Outdoor Events/Festivals
- Libraries/Museums/Education Centres
- Cookery Schools
- Your or your customers’ home
We provide you with a venue risk assessment and checklist in Module 2, as well as lesson ideas for more unconventional venues (think field!), so as long as you consider the venue to be safe for the public, you can be as creative as you wish.
+ How much can I earn?
We provide pricing guidelines to tutors based on number of attendees, length of class and whether publicly or privately funded, in module 4 of the Business Academy.
As a guideline, we would expect you to charge the following:
Community class for 10 families (2 hours) - £200- £300 Birthday parties (1.5 hours) - £200-£350 All day event (over 4 hours) - £80 per hour Children’s workshops (2 hours) - £20-30 per child
You will incur session expenses in the form of ingredients, catering disposables, fuel and printing of resources. We will take you through a series of pricing exercises in module 4 to ensure you are costing your services accurately and charging your worth.
+ Do I need a website/social media page?
All certified tutors will be listed on our website in our tutor directory. You are not allowed to set up your own ‘Organic Cookery School’ website. However, you are welcome to submit recipes, articles and even ideas for mini courses. We love sharing our tutors’ knowledge and ideas and this of course raises your profile if featured.
We provide social media guidelines in our business toolkit, which clearly guides you in the promotion of your Organic Cookery School business online and ensures our brand integrity. We also provide you will ample resources and templates to share and build your local customer base.
+ I am not a qualified cookery teacher, is the course suitable for me?
You do not need to be a qualified teacher, adult tutor or early year’s practitioner to enrol in our Community Cookery School Business Academy or even to gain a license as an Organic Cookery School accredited tutor. However, many of our tutors come from a teaching, early years or healthcare background and bring this prior experience with them. We’ve trained teachers, teaching assistants, school catering staff, governors, NCT tutors, nurses, health visitors and childminders, to deliver our classes, as well as many tutors who have undertaken a complete career change.
+ Is it worth my time doing a teaching or childcare qualification?
Any teacher or child-focussed qualification will, of course, benefit your teaching practice and the experience of your learners, so if you decide to go down this route, we would recommend a level 3 award in Education and Training (formerly PTLLS) which is widely available online or at local further education colleges. We are happy to pass on recommendations of providers for this qualification from our tutors. This is particularly useful if you wish to deliver activities for parents funded by the Skills Funding Council. However, if you plan to focus mostly on children and teenagers, there may be little business benefit. We discuss this in much greater depth in Modules 6 and 7 in the Business Academy.
Our main priority is to attract people who enjoy and have a gift for working with children, families and/or young people, are able to follow our exacting quality standards, have enthusiasm, creativity and energy, and a natural flair for cookery and sharing their skills and knowledge with others.
+ What other qualifications/training will I need to apply for a licence?
Before you gain your licence, you’ll need to evidence the following:
- Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene in Catering (or equivalent) – included in Business Academy
- Safeguarding awareness training – included in Business Academy
- Competence in Family Nutrition or equivalent – available at cost in Business Academy
- A referance from a paid or voluntary placement in a community education/school/afterschool/youth setting (does not have to be cookery based).
We also require all tutors to hold current training in paediatric first aid (or equivalent first aid training), enhanced DBS police check and business insurance. We offer advice and options for fulfilling these criteria in module 6 of the Business Academy. It is the responsibility of the tutor to continue to fulfil these criteria, in order for their licence to be renewed on an annual basis.
+ Why do I have to pay an annual licence fee?
Your annual licence fee allows you to run Organic Cookery School classes using our logo, brand and materials. You also receive online support including emails, online resources, and a forum where you can talk to other teachers, meet up etc.
Many other children’s cookery school business offerings charge an initial training fee of between, £2000 and 4000, a monthly management fee (typically £150) and a royalty (percentage of earnings).
We feel our pricing structure is both fair and accessible, whilst reflecting the value of the training and business opportunities on offer.
+ How much is the yearly licence fee?
Initial registration and a tutor licence is £600. Thereafter, there is an annual renewal fee of £300. These figures are valid for 2018/2019 and may increase in the future.
+ What happens if there is another tutor near me?
We encourage tutors to support each other rather than compete. Supporting other tutors and building relationships will make you feel part of a local team, and help your business if your workload is too high or you or your family are unwell. Most tutors have a preference in the days/times of day/ amount they wish to work, as well as the range of courses they deliver. Some choose to specialise in working with secondary schools/ young people, others prefer to build their business offering our weaning and toddler nutrition programmes, or by running after school clubs. It logically follows that there is room for several tutors to work alongside each other.
However, when you join us as a tutor, you agree to our professional code of conduct which includes supporting your peers, respecting their business achievements and a commitment to developing your own customer base. Breach of these rules could mean the loss or suspension of your licence.
+ Is this a franchise?
No, this is a licence agreement, where we licence the training materials to you for as long as you wish to run our courses (subject to continuing to meet our due diligence requirements).
Our 5 year plan includes expansion overseas, and the creation of master franchise areas by country, or individual state.
You are not limited to a restricted geographical area and you can take your business to a new area if you move (within UK).
+ Am I bound by any contract?
After completing the Community Cookery School Business Academy training, you have the option to apply for a licence to deliver Organic Cookery School programs.
The licence is a legal agreement between The Organic Cookery School and yourself, and sets out our quality standards for delivering activities under our brand.
This licence also entitles you to run classes using The Organic Cookery School logo and trademark using our course materials. Each licence is valid for one year, and renewal is subject to maintaining our safeguarding and any statutory training requirements.
You can apply to cancel the agreement at anytime (minimum 6 week notice required), or pause for up to 12 months if you are ill or wish to take a maternity break.
+ Are there any Organic Cookery School products I can sell, if I decide to be a teacher?
Currently we don’t plan to offer a retail line, as our focus is on community services and digital rather than physical products. We are teachers, enthusiasts of ethically sourced, healthy seasonal produce and inspirational cooks foremost. Our aim is to inspire and enable children and families to cook and feed themselves better in whatever way we can, and to generate income to be able to offer our funded community projects free of charge to vulnerable families.
The more tutors we have, the more opportunities we have to meet demand across the country and this will continue to be our focus for the foreseeable future.
+ What about affiliate income?
As well as offering training for tutors, we are also expanding our range of ebooks and online masterclasses for parents, which tutors are able to earn affiliate income on. All tutors will be issued with a unique affiliate link which they can share with customer, and tracked purchased will result in a generous commission on all eligible products.
This also means you can recommend classes to parents who may not be able to get to your sessions, or for programmes and courses you don’t specialise in.
Tutors receive the highest level of commission available (40%) on eligible digital products, with an additional 10% donated to our community learning fund for vulnerable families on your behalf.
Example potential income at 40% tutor rate
Refer 20 parents to £25 Cooking for baby or Toddler Cookery Masterclasses- total OCS income £500
Affiliate income (payable to tutor) £200 Donation to community learning fund on your behalf £50
Refer two potential tutors to business training academy at £595 – total OCS income £1190.
Affiliate income (payable to tutor) £476. Donation to community learning fund on your behalf £119.
Total Tutor Affiliate commission - £676
Total donation to community learning fund - £169 (plus gift aid where applicable)
Refer 80 parents to £25 Cooking for baby or Toddler Cookery Masterclasses - total OCS income £4000.
Affiliate income (payable to tutor) £1600
Donation to community learning fund on your behalf £400
Refer four potential tutors to business training academy at £595 – total OCS income £2380.
Affiliate income (payable to tutor) £952.
Donation to community learning fund on your behalf £238.
Total Tutor Affiliate commission - £2252
Total donation to community learning fund - £638 (plus gift aid where applicable)
Affiliate commission is payable termly, after any statutory refund periods have passed.
+ What happens after I complete the business training?
After completing the Business Training Academy, you will receive a certificate, and be invited to apply for a licence. Would be tutors need to complete our due diligence checks, and then are able to choose their first programme specialism (or first two if taking advantage of our early bird launch offer).
You will need to identify an insurance provider (we have negotiated a package for UK licensed tutors with Morton Michel, but you are welcome to research your own package), apply for an enhanced DBS police check (or equivalent) and evidence recent training in food safety and hygiene, safeguarding, and paediatric first aid. If you do not hold recent training in these areas, they are available at cost in our licensed tutor training.
Or you may wish to apply your learning to your own business model.
+ Can I advertise my Organic Cookery School classes on the Organic Cookery School website?
All licenced tutors are eligible to be featured on our website. This detailed listing allows potential customers to find you by location, contact you, find out more about the range of classes you offer.
+ Can I get funding for the course?
You may be able to get funding through your local business or enterprise schemes.
+ I am a teacher/early years’ practitioner and would like to use the activities in my school. Is this possible?
We have worked with a number of schools and children’s centres who have funded their staff to train with us. However, at present we are focussing on expanding our team of licenced tutors who work in more than one setting.
+ How do I book and secure my place?
Add link
+ Can I run another cookery or nutrition business alongside being an Organic Cookery School tutor?
Yes, although you cannot cobrand any of your activities without prior permission from our head office.
+ Can I teach my own recipes/lesson plans?
Each programme toolkit comes with a scheme of work and suggested OCS recipes and linked nutritional activities. There will be recipes which will work just as well, so we just need you to submit these for approval before teaching them. If approved we will put into the OCS recipe format, and you will be free to include them in your sessions.
If you opt to deliver some of our funded or accredited programmes, such as Jamie Oliver’s Home School Skills BTEC, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Skills Courses, NCFE accredited or CIEH Nutrition courses you will be bound to use the planning, resources and quality assurance processes linked to those particular programmes.
+ When is the last date to register for the Business Academy Training?
We are taking enrolments from 1st March until 1st May 2018. Our Early Bird discount for would be licensed tutors end on 14th April 2018.
+ Do I need to send references?
Yes, you will need to supply contact details of two written professional or academic referees, in order to gain your licence.
+ What support will I get during and the course?
The Business Academy Modules are released fortnightly, and we will schedule a group coaching office hours call via Demio or Zoom on alternate weeks. This gives you two weeks to absorb and action each module and opportunities to ask questions. If you can’t make the live call, you can send in questions in advance and we will endeavour to answer during the Q and A.
You will get emails with tips, the chance to meet up with other tutors locally, a named business mentor (first 6 months), digital resources and support on marketing your business locally.
+ What resources do you provide as part of the tutor training?
You will receive a comprehensive online toolkit for each programme you choose to specialise in, and operations manual.
+ Do I need to/can I register with Ofsted?
If you run your activities in a set location on a regular basis you can choose to register on the Voluntary register, but this is not obligatory under current legislation. There is currently a £100 fee for registering, plus £100 per location, however parents may then be able to claim back up to 80% of the cost of activities attended by their children through the childcare part of Working Tax Credits. We explore this and other part-funding models in module 8.
+ Can I choose to accept childcare vouchers?
Similarly, you may choose to register with an external organisation to accept Childcare vouchers. There is normally a small administrative charge made by the organisation, however, parents will benefit from tax savings and often look favourably on organisations who are able to accept them. This decision is purely down to you and the types of activities you choose to focus on, but may be something you think about offering as your business and client list grows.
+ What cookery kit will I need?
We suggest all tutors put together a mobile cookery kits which can cater for 10-12 families (parent and child together) or individuals. We will supply an inventory of suggested kit, however, you may choose to exclude some items or add to it according to the recipes and programmes you choose to teach. Most kits consist of durable but lightweight plastic items from high street stores or online retailers (supermarkets, Ikea and Wilkinsons are a good place to start). We have suggested retailers and indicative prices in the attached list. We also supply you with 25 Organic Cookery School aprons (in a choice of toddler, child and adult sizes), as part of your training course to get you started. Additional aprons can be purchased from directly from us, when needed, but they are very hardwearing (and we are still using many from our very first batch ordered 12 years ago, after 100s of classes and 100s of washes!)
+ Do I have to run a certain amount of classes each month?
No, you are free to work as much or as little as you wish.
+ How will my business contribute to my local community and your charitable aims?
All tutors have the option to apply to deliver our funded community projects (subject to location and relevant subject specialism), eg those funded by the BIG Lottery, People’s Health Trust, Local Authorities as well as the smaller charities and community organisations we work with. Project opportunities will be posted in our private FB group for tutors and by newsletter.
Additionally, a minimum 10% of any affiliate income you earn from our digital and online products is ringfenced for our community projects (over and above the 40% you will receive). We will publish a termly leader board of donations through affiliate income, and have some bonuses planned for the highest earners.
We do not expect you to donate your time to any activities for free, but we do support other annual charitable campaigns (eg Children in Need, Red Nose Day, etc) and will invite you to join in with these campaigns, as we can obviously create greater impact as a team, than individually.