LOCAL PUPILS ARE THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD

Children from Larne and Belfast were runners up in a cookery contest organised by Brennans Bread.

Primary school pupils from Belfast and Larne were cooking up a treat as they were crowned runners up in Brennans Great Bread Challenge.

St Anthony’s Primary School in Larne and Euston Street Primary School in Belfast were two of the four schools from across the country selected from more than 100 that   competed against each other in a live ‘cook-off’ final, hosted by sports journalist and radio presenter Denise Watson at W5 in Belfast.

Tasked with turning leftover bread into delicious dishes and designing unique recipes to make the most of every slice, schools submitted entries to the competition, which was organised by Brennans Bread, one of the province’s best known bread brands.

 The four finalists, each of whom received £500 for their school and £100 for their teacher, were St Anthony’s Primary School in Larne (Apple Pie Toastie), Gaelscoil na Daróige in Derry (French Toast), Euston Street Primary School in Belfast (Banana Bread Cake Pops), and Bunscoil Cholmcille, also from Derry (Pizza Rolls).

Cheered on by their classmates and teachers, five pupils from each school had 60 minutes to create their recipes in the live final, before Gaelscoil na Daróige were crowned champions and presented with the winner’s trophy and a cheque for £1,000 by Ivan Hammond, Head of Marketing with Brennans Bakeries.

“What a day we’ve had at the final of our first ever Brennans Dough It Yourself – The Great Bread Challenge competition in Northern Ireland,” said Ivan Hammond.  “We started the day with four incredible teams, each bringing their own energy, passion and, of course, their love for baking and food sustainability. Their recipes to help reduce food waste and increase food sustainability were the cream of the crop across Northern Ireland and all four schools are winners in our eyes.

“However, there can only be one champion and I’d like to congratulate the team from Gaelscoil na Daróige who showed us just how much fun you can have with some leftover bread and a lot of imagination! ” he added.

 Ciara McLaughlin, P4/5 teacher at St Anthony’s Primary School in Larne, said: “It was an incredible event thanks to the generosity of the Brennans Bread team and I would encourage any teacher to get involved! The prizes were fantastic and the children had a great time watching the cooking demos and exploring W5. The entire project was engaging for the kids with great resources to use in class and lots of opportunities for practical cooking. It’s so important to promote sustainability in schools so that we are raising children who are coming up with ideas to reduce food waste I think Brennan’s Bread are creating a fun, exciting way for teachers to do that!”

Miss Darragh McCullough of Euston Street Primary School in Belfast said: “The Dough It Yourself challenge was a great way to get our pupils to think creatively about ways to reduce waste and turn leftover bread into delicious recipes! Our ESPS cookery club couldn’t wait to take on the challenge and were able to work together to come up with the unique idea of ‘Banana Bread Pops’.  It was a great opportunity for the children to lead their own learning to create a recipe and cook it live on stage. The pupils have had a great day at W5, and it was extra special that the rest of the cookery club were able to come to support their school.”

The Brennans Dough It Yourself – The Great Bread Challenge was created by Brennans Bread to educate children about food waste and to encourage creativity and sustainable food choices in a fun and engaging way.

To support participating schools, teachers were provided with curriculum-linked lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations, with lots of fun activities and homework ideas, all designed to raise awareness about food waste.

Brennans Bread is one of the best-known bread brands in Northern Ireland and is synonymous with freshness and quality.

 For more information on Brennans Bread go to www.brennansbread.ie or check out the brand’s social media channels on Facebook www.facebook.com/BrennansBread, Instagram www.instagram.com/brennansbread/ and TikTok www.tiktok.com/@brennansbreadofficial.