Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Expedition training

Over the weekend of 26th January training continued for Gold expedition to Chamonix in July with 17 participants out on the North Downs keeping their expedition skills up to date.



They took part in a night navigation exercise thorugh a local forest and, considering it was the first time for most of them, they did very well not getting too lost! They can now look forward to the next practice at the end of term in the Lake District.

 

Celebrity Chef opens Food Technology Centre

On Tuesday, 16th January we were delighted to welcome Richard Phillips, Cheft/Proprietor of Thackeray's in Tunbridge Wells to formally open the School's new Food Technology Department.

Richard had agreed to give demonstrations to both the GCSE and AS level classes during the morning.
The first course he prepared was Baked Seabass with fennel and mushroom stuffing and almond butter. This was followed by Dark Chocolate Fondant.

Once the seabass had been cooked the students were given the opportunity to taste it. The Year 10 group were rather reluctant at first and even though some of them admitted that they weren't keen on fish, they all decided that it was delicious.

Richard also gave the students the opportunity to assist him with the dessert. Not many people can they say that they were taught to separate eggs by a top chef!

The AS level students also got the chance to help out.  There was no shortage of volunteers to taste the Chocolate Fondant desert. Once the demonstrations were completed it was time for lunch. All the GCSE and AS level students were invited, as well as the three winners of last term's Bethany Masterchef competition. Richard was very interested in the recipes they had used for the competition and spent quite a while chatting to them.

It was soon time for the formal opening and the unveiling of the plaque. Mr Dorey thanked everyone who had been involved in the establishment of the department. He also thanked Richard for giving up so much of his time to join us. Richard Phillips told everyone that he had thoroughly enjoyed his busy morning and how impressed he was with the students' enthusiasm for the subject. Richard is seen here with his brother Stephen, who also helped out during the morning.

During the morning we were also pleased to welcome John Warnett from BBC Radio Kent to the School. He enjoyed the opportunity to taste Richard's cooking and you may have heard the piece he aired on his breakfast show the following morning.