It's not your typical after-school activity, but Heather Kalisch's Baking Club is proving so popular that her classes at The Incubator are at capacity.

'Each week we focus on a different set of skills,” says Heather.

'It may be pastry, cakes, bread or muffins. Lots of parents don't want to deal with the mess that comes after the baking, so that's my job. I can take that off their hands. The kids help clean, as well, of course.”

The club is for students in Years 4-6 who want an alternative to the traditional extracurricular courses like sports or music.

'There's nothing else quite like it. I saw it as a niche market,” says Heather.

'I'm also a primary school teacher, so it started three years ago as the perfect passion project, side-hustle for me. It combines my love of teaching with my love of baking.”

The busy mum-of-two takes pride in the progress she's seen in the kids attending her weekly classes at The Incubator in Tauranga's Historic Village.

One of them, Year 6 student Alison Ashton, aged 10, is attending Baking Club for a second block.

'She was quite shy and a little apprehensive at first, but she has really grown in confidence in things like cracking eggs and getting her hands dirty. Alison's doing great. I'm so stoked that she came back.”

Heather says baking is a skill that suits both boys and girls. 'The kids follow the recipes themselves. I'm just there guiding them and making sure they don't add too much baking powder.

'They do an amazing job. I'm so impressed with them,” says Heather. 'Most of the baking never makes it home, but I get reports from parents that their kids have baked at home and they love it.”

Heather credits the Creative Community Campus, which is a part of The Incubator at Historic Village, as being hugely helpful in providing the space for the classes. For more information, see: www.bakewithme.co.nz/baking-club