AFTER slaving over a hot stove to cook up dishes for 700 schoolgirls, chef Olivier Hubert is cooling off on an expedition to the South Pole.

The executive chef for St Helen and St Katharine pupils in Abingdon has raised the flag for the school at the start of his six-month sabbatical with research organisation the British Antarctic Survey.

Mr Hubert has been selected from over 100 shortlisted applicants to join the catering team supporting the Halley VI Research Station, as it is moved to its new site further inland in the coming months.

He began his journey from Abingdon to Antarctica with a stop-off in Cape Town in South Africa before he flew in a converted Russian cargo plane to start his polar adventure.

Mr Hubert is promising to keep an extensive diary for pupils to keep them up to date.

He said on Tuesday: "This experience is simply amazing - yesterday we went to the edge of the ice shelf to do some ice climbing, walked over the sea ice and wandered among an emperor penguin colony.

"Among other things, we have received a good luck card from no less than Sir David Attenborough and the BBC will soon be arriving, weather permitting, to film a documentary about the BAS and the Halley Base move."

Perched on the Brunt Ice Shelf, Halley VI is the world’s first re-locatable research facility.

Made up of a series of eight interlinked pods built on skis, it can now be towed into a safer position by specialist heavy vehicles, away from a potentially dangerous crack opening up in the ice shelf.

Before setting off Mr Hubert said: "Getting to grips with the realities of everyday cooking challenges such as melting water from the surrounding snow and waiting for fresh food deliveries, will bring me down to earth. "But my passion is for cooking the very best food possible, so whether it is for 700 girls at our school in Abingdon or a great collaborative team of 100 scientists, specialists and support staff in Antarctica, I will do my very best."

Headteacher Rebecca Dougall said: "We are extremely proud of Olivier and so excited.

"His pursuit of a dream, going so far out of his comfort zone and challenging himself in such extreme conditions is a wonderful example of the kind of attitude that we instil in our students here at school.

"We are looking forward to sharing his polar culinary adventures through his diary, with live phone links, social media posts and insights into the globally important environmental research that BAS undertakes."

The British Antarctic Survey, an institute of the Natural Environment Research Council, delivers world-leading interdisciplinary research in the polar regions.

Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the polar regions to improve understanding of the earth and the effects of global warming.

The UK is one of over 30 countries operating scientific research facilities in Antarctica.

St Helen and St Katharine in Faringdon Road is an independent day school for girls aged between nine to 18.

Famous alumnae include Grace Jackson, one of the youngest women to be honoured for her life-saving work during the Ebola crisis, and Save the Children Ambassador Samantha Cameron, who is wife of former Prime Minister David Cameron.