Move over The Great British Bake Off… Bethany had its very own baking battle this week! Every half-term, our brilliant Prefects are challenged to organise a fundraising event for charity. This time, they took inspiration from one of the nation’s favourite baking shows — with a small but important name change for copyright reasons! Welcome to the Great Bethany Bake Off!

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The competition began with 10 talented contestants ready to whisk, chop, bake and battle their way to the top:

+ Rhys W, Year 7
+ Ifor N, Year 7
+ Grace H, Year 8
+ Arabella V B, Year 8
+ Elspeth W, Year 8
+ Ella P, Year 8
+ Stephen K, Year 9
+ Will J, Year 11
+ Rose P, Year 12
+ Maisie F, Year 12

After four days of intense competition, creative recipes and some very difficult decisions, we reached our final four — and by Friday lunchtime, we had our winner…

Congratulations to Grace in Year 8, crowned the 2026 Great Bethany Bake Off champion!

But it wasn’t just about winning — every contestant impressed with their culinary skills. Each day brought a new challenge:

Day 1: Sweetcorn fritters with sriracha yoghurt
Day 2: Strawberry swirl cupcakes with buttercream
Day 3: Delicious vegetable samosas
Day 4: Chocolate Swiss rolls with Cadbury (other chocolate brands are available!) buttercream

Each lunchtime, the contestants cooked up their creations in the Food department, before facing the toughest judges of all… hungry members of the Senior Management Team! Two contestants were eliminated each day as the competition became fiercer and fiercer.

During afternoon break, pupils had the chance to buy the amazing bakes, with all money raised donated to Marden Food Bank, a fantastic local charity supporting families in our community.

A huge thank you goes to Mrs Iles, the Food department and our Prefects for making the week such a success. From organising the event to supporting the bakers, there was a huge amount of teamwork behind the scenes.

At the time of writing, we are still counting the final Swiss roll sales, but we are hoping to donate a three-figure sum to Marden Food Bank. The final total will be revealed in next week’s newsletter.

As you can see from the photos, the standard of baking was exceptional — and the enthusiasm, creativity and confidence shown by every contestant was even better.

A huge well done to all our bakers. The Great Bethany Bake Off has certainly set a very high standard…

Now the question is: who is ready for next year’s technical challenge?

 

Mr Duff
Head of Sixth Form