Andover Primary School opened the doors of their community café for the first time on Tuesday 29th of February 2012.

The café has been named The Paddling Puddock Café by the primary three children, who are running it with the assistance of parent helpers.

Many areas and capacities of the curriculum are being covered through this enterprise project. The children have learned about hygiene and understand their responsibility when cooking and serving food for others. Baking has been a great way to practise reading scales and weighing using standard measures. They have also been practising adding and taking away with money so are able to man the till in the café. The ICT skills they have worked on during the rest of the year have been invaluable when designing signage and menus for the café. The children are gaining success in their learning through running their café.

They were able to apply for a grant through the Scotmid Community Grant scheme. The grant covered the costs of buying equipment, crockery and cutlery for the café and contributed to the initial ingredient costs. Part of the grant included vouchers to be spent in their local Scotmid store. The children are hoping to buy as many Fairtrade products as possible including coffee, tea, sugar and chocolate.

The comments from parents and relatives that have visited the café have been very positive. Many have said that it is nice to have the chance to visit the school and chat to pupils and staff in a less formal setting. They have also been giving suggestions of other cakes and treats that the children could add to the menu. As their confidence in their cooking skills grows P3 are looking to try out a new recipes.

Parent help has been invaluable when setting up and running the café. It has meant that the children are able to bake every week or go to the shop to buy ingredients. Many parents and staff have been very generous with donations of crockery and cutlery.

The café will initially run every Tuesday from 10.30 to11.30, until Easter. After Easter the children will run the café once a fortnight, possibly changing the day to allow parents who work on a Tuesday to have the opportunity to come. They are also hoping to invite parents from throughout the school and also other members of the Andover community.