School Chef Of The Year Competition

We recently shared the news that our very own school chef, Malachy Rowe, has reached the regional finals of the School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) competition! The event took place in Barnsley, West Yorkshire on Thursday 1st May, with Malachy representing us in the North of England and Scotland regional heat. During the event, the chefs were tasked with producing four main courses and four desserts in front of a panel of judges from Premier Foods (the competition sponsor). Malachy narrowly missed out on winning the regional final by just one point, finishing a very close runner up.  However, the judges were particularly taken with Malachy’s menu – inspired by French cuisine and thoughtfully linked to Ponteland High School’s Modern Foreign Languages department, showcasing the kitchen’s involvement in World Languages Day. The exciting news is that, as one of the highest-scoring runners-up, Malachy is in strong contention for a wildcard place in the SCOTY national final this July. We are very proud of Malachy’s efforts and we feel very lucky to have such a talented chef working with us each day.