PRINCIPALS from the Braw Lads’ Gathering were given a pizza the action at Tweedbank Primary School last week.

During the tour of schools on Thursday, Braw Lad Cameron Pate and Braw Lass Abbie Frankland were treated to some freshly made Margheritas.

Primary 4 pupils from the school had spent much of the morning working with staff and trainees from the nearby Bread Works social enterprise. And they had created a baker’s dozen or so Fiorentinas and Napoletanas as well as their own crazy class creations.

Tweedbank Primary has spent the past few weeks working with both Bread Works and its social enterprise stablemate Green Works.

And it something head teacher Alyson Weir hopes will continue.

She said: “I applied for a Food for Thought grant recently and part of the application encourages connections with local businesses. We have teamed up with both Bread Works and Green Works, something which is beneficial for both the children and the school as well as the people who are at the social enterprises.

“The pupils have made some lovely breads already - the Primary 1 pupils were proud as punch with their little loaves - and every class in the school will do some form of food learning.” Throughout Thursday morning, Mandy Lowrie and her team from Bread Works helped the Primary 4 pupils knead dough, build bases, and create terrific toppings.

They were also reminded about the importance of hand-washing and hygiene.

Under the banner of the Working Together social enterprises, which is operated by Brothers of Charity, a total of 26 trainees with various degrees of learning disabilities are progressing through the Bread Works and Green Works schemes.

The budding bakers and have-a-go gardeners at the Tweedbank Industrial Estate base are working towards qualifications and hopefully employment.

Their loaves and pizzas are sold straight from the bakery as well as pop-up shops in Selkirk, Borders General Hospital and the Cloudhouse Cafe in Stow.

And they are actively looking across the region for other outlets for their organic range of breads.

But the fledgling partnership with Tweedbank Primary is new ground for both Bread Works and Green Works.

Mrs Lowrie told us: “We want the social enterprises to be as involved as they can be in the community - and working with Tweedbank Primary School is proving to be a real success.

“We have already been in to make loaves of bread with the smaller children and our gardening trainees came with a supervisor to help tidy up the raised beds. There are also benefits for the school and the pupils - they get to learn numeracy skills and hygiene as well as how to make tasty pizzas and breads.” There are currently 11 trainees working within the bakery at Bread Works, 11 with Green Works in the gardens, and a further four trainees learning reception skills.

All of the courses are in conjunction with the Borders College Skills Accreditation Programme. Helen Rodger, from Peebles, is one of the bakery trainees who helped the Primary 4 pupils with their pizzas. Helen told us: “I enjoy working at Breadworks and it has been a lot of fun to come to the school.

We’re all looking forward to trying the pizzas.” From the empty plates on show within the Tweedbank Primary dining hall it was evident the pizza day had been a success.

Bread Works at Unit 6, Tweedbank Industrial Estate, is open to the public on weekdays from 9am to 4pm. And they also have Pizza Friday where pizzas are cooked on the premises and served up at the reception.

Mandy added: “Our Pizza Fridays are popular - we have a lot workmen from the railway in each week.”