Pupils cook up a treat for village community

Each week, pupils from Captain Shaw's Primary School prepare a delicious lunch for people in their community to develop a whole range of important life skills. 

Dubbed "The Captain's Table", class two pupils swap their uniforms for their chef whites and whip up a different meal each Friday - all to a thoroughly worked out budget. 

The children are responsible for coming up with new healthy meal ideas that adhere to strict government requirements, working out a budget, buying the ingredients, cooking and serving it up to willing members of the public. 

Headteacher, Pete Mills, is championing the cause and believes it helps equip children with invaluable personal skills.

He said: "It's just about developing life skills and incorporating maths and science into that. 

"It's all about the practical side of education and it's really good because by teaching about money we're putting into practice the maths we learn in class. When it's on a piece of paper it's hard to see what the point of it is.

"If we're doing something practical we get much more understanding from what we're learning in school and why we're learning it. 

"It's also great because it's getting children who are eight or nine years old developing these all important life skills."

Every Friday the pupils choose a different meal to cook and open their doors to treat members of their family or other people in the community. 

The children are now preparing for the biggest gig of the year by getting ready for their special Christmas Dinner on Friday December 11. 

Teams of pupils are busy researching delicious dinner ideas, buying traditional ingredients and brushing up on their culinary techniques to share with people in and around the village of Bootle. 

Mr Mills is excited to share this special Christmas gift with members of the community. 

He said: "Captain Shaw's is a special part of the community and the community is of massive importance to us."