Lunches

It has been a fantastic first day of term at HCH as students and staff enjoyed coming together in the beautiful weather, getting to know new friends and colleagues and starting in new year groups. Our early years children had story time in the school grounds. Middle years and lower years have enjoyed...

As part of their preparations for going to university in September, Year 13 students spent an afternoon in a cookery session with HCH chef, Junior. They learnt how to debone a chicken, make an omelette (for some it was their first ever omelette) and for dessert they made vegan blueberry muffins.
Junior... took the students through creating a weekly shopping list and how to prepare and store food that will last them a week. The group discussed maximising your money at the supermarket and freezing foods safely. What a useful and engaging session for year 13 which will stand them in excellent stead for their university life in the autumn.

Khalil in Year 6 has always been a school champion of allergy awareness and ensuring that HCH is an inclusive and ‘allergy-friendly’ place to be. He is also a brilliant cook and baker. We are delighted that Khalil has been using his time since the national lockdown last month to create some amazing... recipes on his blog

Over 130 pupils from years 5 to 13 and 40 staff took part in the annual Camp HCH in the school grounds on Friday. At the end of the school day the pupils made their way to the sports field to pitch their tents and say goodbye to their parents before the evening’s festivities started. As the BBQ was... lit, the students took part in ‘Zen in the Den’ activities, making their own dreamcatchers and learning how to craft their own bows and arrows out of twigs from the school grounds. As the sun began to set on the campsite, the pupils played French cricket and ultimate frisbee tournaments while the catering team and teachers began to prepare the food for dinner. After dinner, the bonfires were lit and the pupils gathered to perform live music for one another and dance. The evening drew to a close with marshmallows toasting over the bonfires and stories before bedtime. On Saturday morning the campsite was cleared while the children drank hot chocolate and ate croissants, chatting about the evening before and the many happy memories they have made.

Staff and pupils are looking forward to ‘Francophone Week’ at Hampton Court House, celebrating the language and culture of the world’s many French-speaking countries.
Each classroom will have the flag of a country where French is (one of the) official languages, plus some economic and cultural... information of that country. There will be special lunchtime assemblies, workshops, French films and talks to encourage students to discover the Francophone culture beyond France.

Year 6 had the unique opportunity to become ‘Pizzaiolos’ for the day at a Pizza Express School Experience. They made their own pizzas from scratch, learning how to knead and toss the dough before adding their own toppings. They also spent some time learning about the importance of fresh ingredients,... how food is prepared and where our food comes from.

We were working on microbes when Raul (our science teacher) had the brilliant idea to make bread using yeast. We learnt so much like yeast eats the sugar and creates carbon dioxide and that’s what makes the dough grow we also found that the yeast multiplies at 38°C (close to the body temperature.... Year six did this in two groups, one made the dough and the other formed the dough into bread shapes. We did this in the kitchen with help from Junior (the school’s chef). We made the bread using a simple recipe with flour, water, sugar, salt, yeast (fungi) and olive oil. We achieved something we would never imagined.