A HOSPITALITY academy has been set up at a Wee County secondary school following successful involvement with an industry initiative.

The 10 students at Lornshill Academy taking part will see in-school cookery classes with a professional, host catering for school events, receive real life work experiences and even take over for a day at Inglewood House, all while receiving certificates.

The initiative comes after the pupils were involved with Springboard charity’s FutureChef scheme last month.

This saw 150 pupils from the wider Clackmannanshire and Stirling areas given the rare opportunity to experience, first hand, what it is like to work in the hospitality, food and tourism sector.

The event, supported by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Forth Valley since 2017, was funded by Skills Development Scotland and hosted by Forth Valley College with organisations hosting interactive workshops and more.

Those selected for the in-school academy beat off stiff competition and were interviewed by the general manager and head chef at Inglewood House

FutureChef was also an opportunity to compete and two local winners are through to the Forth Valley finals while Lornshill also developed working partnerships with the college as well as the hotel and spa.

Emma McCurdie, S3 hospitality academy pupil, said: “I loved my day at the college doing all the different hospitality tasks and was so pleased to win the practical kitchen award.

"I now look forward to practicing my dishes with Karen, the head chef at Inglewood House, and the further learning of new experiences in the kitchen which will all help me become a home economics teacher in the future.”

The academy is supported by the DYW Innovation Fund with the aim of supporting young people into a positive destination on leaving school.