Kate Davies, Jeff Cuthbert AM and Mrs Evans (Head Teacher) with pupils from St Gwladys
On Monday 3rd March, Kate Davies from St Gwladys, Bargoed Primary School won the regional heat of Lead Association for Catering in Education (LACA) School Chef of the Year and will be shortly representing Wales in the finals in May.
Kate had a special guest at school on Friday 11th April when Jeff Cuthbert AM, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty called in to congratulate Kate on her win and also to wish her luck at the finals in May.
The annual LACA competition puts the preparation, cooking, creativity, technical ability and presentation skills of school chefs to the test with each entrant required to produce, in just one and a half hours, a healthy balanced two- course meal that would appeal to Year 6 pupils. The composition of the dishes must conform to nutritional standards.
Kate’s winning dishes were spiced beef kebabs served with coconut rice and a dessert of apple and cinnamon samosa, served with a sweet yoghurt sauce.
Jeff Cuthbert, AM said “I’m so very proud that Kate has won this award, not just for the school, but for the whole of Wales. Preparing nourishing, healthy meals for schoolchildren is so important in this day and age, and I want to congratulate Kate and all of her colleagues for the work they have put into getting the LACA award. They are a credit to the School and to Caerphilly.
Kate, who has been employed by Caerphilly Catering for past eight years said “I’m really proud to be presenting Wales for school chef of the year award, and I’d like to thank all my team and colleagues at Caerphilly Council and St Gwladys School for their continued help and support. I was very shocked when I found out I had won the Welsh regional finals and so proud. I’m really looking forward to the next stage of the contest.”
To find out more about school meals in Caerphilly please visit www.myschoollunch.co.uk/caerphilly
