Michelin-starred chef Richard Phillips visited the Westlands School to teach pupils about serving high-quality food.

He spoke to Year 10 pupils about sourcing local goods and stressed how serving in-season ingredients enhances the dish.

Mr Phillips, a regular face on TV cooking shows, was accompanied by his head chef, Will Devlin, of the Windmill in Hollingbourne.

The school’s head of food technology, Susan Craycraft, said: “The children were nervous at first after I had shown them a video so they knew who he was.

“But once they got cooking they relaxed.”

Mr Phillips runs three more restaurants – Thackerys in Tunbridge Wells, Hengist in Aylesford and Chapel Down, Tenterden.

The 38-year-old, who has worked alongside the Roux brothers and Marco Pierre White, began his career at The Savoy Hotel in London.

Mrs Craycraft said: “They talked about everything; why they washed up as they went along and why it was important to keep tasting.

“They were talking to the children, the chef would taste and tell them how to improve it and give them advice.”

The pupils were split into groups and took part in a MasterChef-style competition where they had to plate up the dish exactly how they had been shown by Mr Phillips. He had started by cooking duck confit and showed them how it would be laid out at an award-winning restaurant.

The pupils worked together to plate up the dish before it was judged on its presentation and taste. There were two prizes – second place went to the best presentation and first went to the group which executed great flavours as well as layout.

The youngsters have been learning about the industry through a variety of guest speakers to teach them about front-of-house and silver service as well as cooking high-quality dishes.

Mrs Craycraft added: “The children loved it. It was an experience for them to know how to cook and how to present it.”