BUDDING chefs and actors at a school near Devizes have been showing off their talents to a wider audience.

Youngsters in Year 11 at Lavington School opened a pop up restaurant as part of their food technology lessons while those in Year 9 took to the stage in Bath to perform The Changing Room.

The Eleven restaurant which was open during February and March showcased the pupils' seasonal two course menus as a classroom was transformed into a cafe.

Their work was judged as part of their VCERT food assessment exam and was worth 25 per cent of their final course grade.

A school spokesman said: "The department was transformed into a restaurant, to showcase the 63 seasonal two course menus, individually prepared by each student.

"The Food Technologists were highly effective, with ambitious planning, preparing, cooking and serving of their menus to 130 guests. It involved five days of assessment and pop lunches, 378 hours cooking 195 different recipes. It has been a huge activity and great teamwork in the technology faculty with our superb Y11 students.

"We were delighted to welcome staff, parents, grandparents and other extended family members of Year 11 students, family friends, neighbours and governors. They were very sociable lunches and it was really lovely to be able to share this experience with our school community."

The Year 9 students took part in project at The Egg Theatre, Bath, which involved 250 groups involved in The National Theatre Connections project. They performed The Changing Room by Chris Bush which is about teenagers growing up,

Tom Mansfield, a freelance director from the National Theatre reviewed the performance and said: “It’s clear that everyone involved has come on a huge journey throughout the life of this project – and it was also amazing to see the support from the school community during and after the performance."