A dozen students from three Birmingham schools swapped the classroom for the kitchen to become ‘Masterchefs’ for the day, in a cooking competition designed to test the children’s culinary skills using only the healthiest of ingredients.

Students from Highters Heath Primary School prepare their dish

Taking place in the newly constructed kitchen of Highters Heath Primary School in King’s Heath, select pupils from the school were joined by others from Hollywood Primary School and The Oaks Primary School.

The pupils were then asked to prepare and present their dishes to a panel of judges. Scored in categories including teamwork, hygiene and presentation, each group of four delivered a savoury and sweet dish, in a competition which the three schools collaborated on thanks to their involvement in the Health for Life programme.

Health for Life, which is currently running in primary and secondary schools, as well as in various locations across South Birmingham, is designed to promote healthy and sustainable lifestyles. Funded by the Mondelēz International Foundation, the programme is delivered by the Health Education Service (part of Services for Education), working with Life Education Centres West Midlands and The Conservation Volunteers.

Simone Bassi, Life Education Centres West Midlands and competition judge, said:  ‘All of the teams worked well together and had well-prepared and tasty dishes; it made the judging extremely difficult.  The winning team, Highter’s Heath Primary School, had been very creative – their dessert was a fantastic pineapple volcano. It was cut open in front of us and fruit spilled out of both sides.”

Sonia Chhatwal, community affairs manager at Mondeléz International added: “Highters Heath Primary School is doing a fantastic job of delivering the programme in a way that is fun and appealing to the children. Not only have they constructed a brand new kitchen as part of their involvement, they’ve also organised this highly successful cookery competition, which I’m sure will be repeated in the future.”

Currently in its second year, Health for Life in primary schools is already seeking schools to participate in the third intake of the five year programme. For more details, or to register, contact [email protected].