Pupils at The Harbour School’s Vanguard Campus recently enjoyed a visit from NHS Solent Trust’s award-winning chef as part of a 350+ taster session on careers in catering.
Jim Richardson, Chef Supervisor at Portsmouth’s St Mary’s Hospital, recently made it to the final of the NHS Chef of the Year competition. He was joined at the school by his colleague Ronnie ParrettHarris, Assistant Catering Manager. The team guided pupils, who are studying BTEC Level 1&2 Home Cooking Skills, to make cheesy chorizo-stuffed chicken with pesto pasta.
The aim of the 350+ NHS Careers Programme is to enlighten young people to the 350+ career paths open to them in the NHS, many of them offered straight from school via apprenticeship.
Kat Millmore-Davies, Education Outreach Lead for the 350+NHS Careers Programme, says: “These students have a keen interest in catering but until today were not aware that you can start as an apprentice chef in the NHS and work your way up.
The NHS offers a fantastic career and that’s what the 350+ programme is all about showing. Huge thanks to Jim and Ronnie for their time today – it was brilliant to see the pupils inspired and having a great time.”
Kate Bance, Careers Lead at The Harbour School, says: “This was such a positive experience for our pupils. It was great to see
them working with the NHS chefs, following recipes, and using ingredients to create delicious dishes. Knowing that career paths like this exist in the NHS is beneficial to our pupils and helps to raise aspirations. Their feedback has been brilliant.”
