Eight lucky children from Bethany Junior School in Boscombe have been learning how to cook with Marcus Fidge, the lead teacher at Flavours School of Cookery.

The young pupils, aged from eight to ten, have learnt essential skills and had lots of fun along the way! They discovered how to safely chop vegetables with a sharp knife and how to grate ingredients before simmering them on the hob. There was a lot of concentration as the pasta dishes were created and at the end of it each child was able to take home four portions of pasta in sauce, topped with cheese, that they had completely made themselves.

In previous weeks the children had made chicken pie, that included making pastry from scratch, and an Indian themed menu with samosas, naan bread and dal. Later in the course there will be chocolate brownies and the course will end with a surprise Christmas themed cookery experience!

The whole cookery course was funded by an anonymous donor via Variety Wessex. All part of Variety’s Great Days Out scheme that aims to give children positive experiences and days to remember.  

Liz Rawson Jones, Pastoral Lead at Bethany CE Junior School said:

“What a wonderful experience this is for our children. Watching their confidence grow each week is incredible. They can take the skills they learn over these few short weeks and use them for the rest of their lives. I am so thankful to Variety for giving these children such a life changing experience. This is something that they will always remember.” 

Frances Cornelius, chair of Variety Wessex, said:

“Thank you everyone at Flavours School of Cookery for giving these children the opportunity to learn good cooking skills, particularly Marcus for such expert teaching. They will benefit from this experience for the rest of their lives. I can’t thank our anonymous donor enough!”