Enniskillen school day spotlights 20-year sourdough starter and local baking

Enniskillen’s Shared Education Day became a lot bigger than a classroom exchange when Joe Kelly turned up with the sort of sourdough story that stops people mid-conversation: a starter that has been alive for 20 years. At the May 1 event, pupils and staff from Holy Trinity Primary and Nursery School and Jones Memorial Primary School spent the day with local food makers, and Kelly’s bread quickly became one of the clearest symbols of why sourdough still lands so well in public gatherings.

Kelly, known locally as Joe the Baker, runs a community-supported baking operation in Enniskillen, producing organic sourdough bread and European-style pastries from the loft of a converted stone-built grain store. That setting matters almost as much as the loaf itself. A starter with two decades behind it is not a classroom gimmick or a disposable demo. It carries continuity, memory and the kind of care that gives bread a story before the first slice is cut.

The children were clearly drawn in. Education Authority Northern Ireland said pupils were highly engaged, asking thoughtful questions about ingredients, techniques and food origins as Kelly demonstrated traditional sourdough-making and offered plenty of tastings through the day. That is where sourdough shows its social value most clearly: it is easy to explain, easy to hand around and easy to connect to family routines, old methods and local pride. In a room full of young bakers and curious eaters, the starter did more than ferment. It opened a conversation.

The day was not only about bread. Fintan from O’Doherty’s Butchers joined in with pigs in blankets made using the business’s award-winning black bacon, while other food professionals brought kormas, chapatis, onion bhajis, pancakes and Mexican-inspired dishes. The mix made the event feel less like a single lesson and more like a shared table, with sourdough sitting alongside other foods that carry their own traditions and techniques. Pupils also began gathering ideas and recipes for a collaborative recipe book being developed by both schools, giving the day a practical finish that will outlast the tasting trays.

That broader purpose is exactly what shared education is meant to do. Education Authority Northern Ireland defines it as schools from different sectors working together for collaborative and meaningful learning experiences. In Enniskillen, that idea already has deep local roots. Controlled Schools Support Council said Jones Memorial Primary School has served the community since 1906, and in 2024 it described the partnership with Holy Trinity Primary and Nursery School as part of the PEACEPLUS ASPIRE programme under the project Enniskillen Together: Hearts, Minds and Heritage. The sourdough may have been the headline, but the real lesson was bigger: bread like this works because it is useful, visible and communal all at once.