A dozen youngsters soaked up every word from celebrity chef Brett McGregor as he talked them through the process of making a tangy, tasty Thai dish in a special cooking lesson at the school last week.
The school had been selected as one of only three in the country where McGregor will run master classes in cookery, as part of a nationwide three-week cooking-in-schools campaign.
The "Let's Cook" programme, sponsored by kitchen appliance company Parmco, will involve almost 400 schools around the country, a number of which will be visited by McGregor.
At Rhodes Street School, the children, aged 9 to 13, were kitted out in aprons and hats and were cooking minced chicken in pans on single-burner gas stoves. Others were busy preparing herbs and other ingredients.
McGregor, formerly a teacher, says he has created a series of special recipes for a cooking competition to be run in conjunction with the programme, with schools able to win one of eight Parmco kitchen packages. Total prizes are worth $150,000.