The Return of Super Chefs

We were thrilled to revive the excitement of our Super Chefs cookery competition yesterday, welcoming Year 5 students back into the Food Tech arena with the First Round participants showcasing their baking brilliance on Monday 15^th January.

The annual Super Chefs competition, inaugurated in 2019, sees Year 5 children from six different schools compete in initial knockout rounds, in order to win their spot in the much anticipated final in April. Over this Spring Term, budding bakers will embark on the delightful task of crafting 12 cupcakes per pair.

To kick off Round 1 of the 2024 Super Chefs competition, 4 teams of pupils from Hemdean House joined us to bake and decorate cupcakes. Afonso, Year 5 at Hemdean House and part of the Round 1 winning pair, found the decorating aspect to be both challenging and incredibly enjoying, admitting “making the icing smooth” was particularly difficult. Meanwhile, Nico, Year 5 at Hemdean House, commented that his favourite part was “all of it”, where as “decorating the cakes’ was the highlight for Patrick.

Helen Chalmers, Head at Hemdean House and herself a trained chef, enjoyed joining in and participating in the workshop. Helen was drawn to the competition as she believes that cooking is “such an important skill for children to learn”, with the added hope that her students would cultivate essential teamworking abilities.

Karen Hicks, Food Technician who conducted the session, expressed her delight at meeting Hemdean House pupils. Impressed by their attitudes and the fabulous cupcakes they crafted, Karen commented “I enjoyed teaching a fun and interactive lesson with Hemdean House for Super Chefs. The students were positive and engaged and seemed to really enjoy themselves, as I did too!”

The children all did a fantastic job and should be proud be of their creations, making it difficult for our judges to choose the winners in such a close competition. Well done to runner-ups Patrick and Charles, and we  look forward to welcoming David Marvellous and Afonso back Leighton Park in April for the Grand Final.

The competition is not just a showcase of culinary skills but a celebration of youthful imagination and teamwork, making it an unforgettable experience for all.