A Welwyn teacher has joined the ranks of Jamie Oliver and Paul Hollywood with an international award for her book on school cookery.

Marie Reynolds from Welwyn, who taught at Applecroft School for 20 years, has picked up an award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for her book ‘Now We’re Cooking!’.

The teacher, who spent 20 years with Applecroft School, travelled to Yantai in China to pick up the prestigious award.

She co-authored the book with headteacher Tim Baker and Harpenden-based Katharine Tate, a food educator known as ‘The Food Teacher’.

‘Now We’re Cooking!’ outlines the lessons that the teachers use to engage pupils in cooking and food culture at Tim Baker’s school in London.

Marie, who has also taught part-time at Watchlytes School, said: “When writing ‘Now We’re Cooking’ we set out to use our expertise to support schools to put food at the top of their agendas.

“The impact of developing school food culture can have wide-reaching benefits including greater engagement, improved long-term health and community inclusion.

“To get this level of recognition for this book is an amazing achievement.”

The awards were founded by Edouard Cointreau in 1995 to honour the best food and wine publications and TV, and are often referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of food awards.

This year’s awards received entries from 215 countries, and previous winners include Michel Roux, Jamie Oliver and Paul Hollywood.

‘Now We’re Cooking!’ is available on Amazon and on Katharine’s website www.thefoodteacher.co.uk