hospitality

St David’s Day celebrations

28th February 2019 by Eluned Watson

Megan, Carter and Grace create daffodil shaped breads

Derwen College students, who hail from all over the UK, embraced St David’s Day on 1^st March, using the Welsh patron saint as inspiration across the college’s pathway areas.

Hospitality students Megan Sheppard, Carter Gough and Grace Bennett combined celebrations for St David’s Day and Real Bread Week by making daffodil-shaped breads as part of their learning in the Training Kitchen.

The college’s Creative Arts students created beautiful ceramic daffodils to sell to customers in the Garden Centre shop.

Students working at Derwen College’s Ashdale House satellite site near Penley, Wrexham, designed and produced upcycled furniture inspired by Wales as part of their upcycling enterprise Hwre. They transformed a bookcase using decoupage images from Welsh song Calon Lan (meaning Pure Heart); and Louis Thomas designed a chair using images of a Welsh coal mine, daffodil and dragon.

Hospitality and Housekeeping students also excelled themselves in producing bread Welsh dragons in the Training Kitchen. The team managed to mark St David’s Day, Real Bread Week and Maths Week in one fabulous project.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

Serving up professional training

8th January 2019 by Eluned Watson

A two-course dinner made from scratch was on the menu when Derwen College students were invited on a professional catering skills workshop.

Five hospitality students from college had the opportunity to train for the day at a Whitbread-owned industry training kitchen.

Whitbread – owner of restaurant brands including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Thyme, Cookhouse & Pub and Bar + Block – asked students from the Oswestry-based college to attend a bespoke catering course at its North Learning and Skills Academy in Sale, near Manchester. The students and two members of staff jumped at the chance to learn new skills in a professional environment with top class teaching chefs.

Premier Inn Regional Operations Manager Tracey Bishop invited the students on the experience, having established a close professional relationship between Derwen and the UK’s biggest hotel company Premier Inn, which is also Whitbread-owned. The partnership, which sees students undertaking work experience and paid employment at Premier Inn hotels across the UK, has also seen the creation of a Premier Inn training hotel on the college grounds; here students gain valuable first-hand experience of the hospitality industry.

Budding cooks Faye Humphries, Max Marek, William Chapple, James Ashworth and Adam Gill were given the opportunity to work with industry teachers including Craig Robinson, Lead Academy Manager who ran the day. The students prepared a Spaghetti Bolognese from scratch including peeling and preparing the vegetables and garlic. They worked with pictures to help their understanding and were able to take them home so that they could recreate the same recipe step-by-step for themselves.

Derwen College Work Experience Co-ordinator Abi Baker said that students and staff were thrilled to be invited to the professional training kitchen where Whitbread restaurant teams are trained. Staff from the different Whitbread brands undergo initial training there and attend catering courses whenever a new menu is devised.

Abi Baker said: “We had no idea what to expect but Whitbread surpassed anything we could have hoped for. The students were kitted out in full uniform including safety shoes and were looked after like celebrities – with food and drink throughout the day.

“The students were taught step-by-step to make a Spaghetti Bolognese from scratch, followed by an ice-cream sundae with a huge array of ice-creams, toppings and sprinkles to choose from.

“We invited students who we thought would benefit the most from the day; learners who had done some cooking but were keen to reach that next step of learning. They all developed new skills such as crushing garlic and using graters and peelers. Being treated as VIP guests, they were well-motivated and performed beyond our expectations.

She added: “Students were over-the-moon to be given certificates and allowed to keep their catering kit. And, as the cherry on the cake, unlike in their usual catering sessions, the students didn’t have to do the washing up when they’d finished!”

Welcoming Morda Primary School for Eat Well Week

12th October 2018 by Eluned Watson

Pupils from Morda CE Primary School visited Derwen College, in Gobowen, as part of their Eat Well Week this month.

The school’s ‘Rockies’ class visited the college for a practical activity to prepare a healthy snack with Derwen College hospitality students and staff.

Eat Well Week took place between Monday 1^stand Friday 5^thOctober. The week was part of the Morda Living Well project when pupils took part in lots of fun and enjoyable activities as they learned about keeping themselves healthy by eating well.

There were a variety of activities going on, pportunities for trying new tastes, as well as trips out for some classes and visitors coming to school to cook and bake with pupils.

Rockies learned about the Eat Well Plate at Derwen College as well as preparing a healthy snack with the students and staff.

Ahead of the visit, Derwen College Student Voice co-ordinators Sarah Laszlo and Sue Richards delivered disability awareness training to the whole of Morda school during their morning assembly.

Fundraiser Anna Evans and Commercial Development Manager Pete Evans took a Derwen College pop-up market stall to the school. Sales of home-made jam, chutney, cakes, and breads created by hospitality students, as well as plants from the Garden Centre, did a roaring trade, sales raised more than £80 for the college.

Amy Snow, Marketing Co-ordinator at Derwen College, said: “Thank you to Morda CE Primary School for making Derwen College part of their Eat Well Week. It was a pleasure to welcome them to the college to work alongside our hospitality students and staff.”

Derwen College, in Gobowen, near Oswestry, is a specialist college for young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. The college offers students the opportunity to learn new skills in real work environments and to learn life skills which will enable them to live as independently as possible.

Hospitality and Customer Services is one of the core vocational areas at Derwen College. The college has received three consecutive ‘outstanding’ Ofsted gradings.

For more information on Derwen College events and leisure facilities visit www.visitderwen.co.uk.

hospitality

St David’s Day celebrations

Derwen College students, who hail from all over the UK, embraced St David’s Day on 1^st March, using the Welsh patron saint as inspiration across the college’s pathway areas.

Serving up professional training

A two-course dinner made from scratch was on the menu when Derwen College students were invited on a professional catering skills workshop.

Welcoming Morda Primary School for Eat Well Week

Pupils from Morda CE Primary School visited Derwen College, in Gobowen, as part of their Eat Well Week this month.

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hospitality

Derwen College students, who hail from all over the UK, embraced St David’s Day on 1st March, using the Welsh patron saint as inspiration across the college’s pathway areas.

A two-course dinner made from scratch was on the menu when Derwen College students were invited on a professional catering skills workshop.

Pupils from Morda CE Primary School visited Derwen College, in Gobowen, as part of their Eat Well Week this month.

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Facebook FeedLike Our Page

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Derwen College students, who hail from all over the UK, embraced St David’s Day on 1^st March, using the Welsh patron saint as inspiration across the college’s pathway areas.