From 7- 9 May, sixteen Year 11 and 12 students from Hawker College in Canberra currently undertaking vocational secondary hospitality studies had their Career Focus Day experience on the BMHS campus accompanied by teachers Ms Kaeren Sutherland and Ms Lydia Smith.
BMHS Area Manager (Australia), Ms Maree Burns assisted by Recruitment Coordinator Mr Charles Jonas collected the Hawker College team from Central station and escorted them by coach to the campus where they were greeted by Deputy Principal Mr Steve Tucker.
The students were then divided into groups for practical sessions in the kitchen, front office and house keeping. Evening activities included an informal meeting with current students studying at BMHS. On Tuesday, the students had the chance to observe four one-hour lectures on Ethics in Hospitality, Event Management, Strategic Planning and Management, and Gastronomy, Food and Culture. The afternoon included practical tasks such as coffee making skills, napkin folding and meal preparation.
Wednesday started with a rotation of groups through house keeping, kitchen and food service followed by some sight-seeing at the Three Sisters and a boutique chocolate-making factory in Katoomba before heading back to the school for a presentation of certificates and lunch.
The students later reported in the Hawker College Newsletter “Overall, this trip was a great experience as it helped some of us determine whether we wanted to work in the hotel industry or attend the Blue Mountains Hotel School.” Ms Maree Burns reported that “The three-day event was a success. We got positive feedback from the teachers and the College and hope to recruit several students.”
On 1 May, the School was pleased to host two visitors from Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts, Ms Samantha Gross, Manager Talent Resourcing and Mr James Horne, IGrad, Holiday Inn at Potts Point, who focused on the hotel group and IGrad graduate program
On 8 May, BMHS welcomed back our close associates from TOGA Hospitality, Ms Cara George, Training and Development Manager, with her colleagues Mr Duncan Fraser-Smith-Regional Operations Manager and Mr Mauro Leone, Regional Operations Manager.
On 15 May, the School also welcomed back Mr Pat Sheehan, Vice President HR, Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International, who was an industry guest speaker at last year’s ORION Congress on Generation Y. (See OCTOBER 2006 News). Mr Sheehan introduced students to this young, fast-growing hotel group with properties in Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand. As well as its own properties, Rendezvous also now manages The Marque collection of hotels launched in China in March, 2007.
As part of the Career Development course, on May 18 Mr Kurt Eungland, Resort Manager Four Seasons, Whistler, Canada, made a presentation on the property and met with students after the class to talk about placement and career options.
In the closing weeks of the Autumn Semester, lecturers Ms Joanne Cunningham and Mr Mark Woodbridge tried a new approach to assessment with a joint debate between students in their respective Level 3 electives, Gastronomy, Food and Culture, and Ethics in Tourism and Hospitality.
On Tuesday 15 May, two teams of four students, three speakers and one support person, engaged in a formal debate of the topic, “That all humans should be fed - no matter the cost.” The general consensus was that the team from Gastronomy won the day. In any event, all students acquitted themselves admirably.
“This was a completely new approach to assessment in Gastronomy,” said lecturer Ms Joanne Cunningham, “Initially my students were a little apprehensive, but they quickly focused on the task at hand and found the experience exhilarating and very satisfying.”
Mr Mark Woodbridge, Head of Research, has used debates as a form of assessment in Ethics for several semesters. He commented “The combination of two teams from quite different subjects resulted in the debate having a high degree of competitive spirit. My Ethics students were pushed outside their normal curriculum and learned just how important the research and preparation skills and the teamwork used in the preparation and execution of debating can be as part of their course and how these skills can be transferred to the real world.”
Debating will continue to be incorporated in Gastronomy and Ethics and is being considered for other subjects as well.
For Hospitality and Tourism Consultancy Project this semester, third year student teams were given a brief to prepare a feasibility study in relation to one of the following investment opportunities (a) Boutique: development of a small 5 star property in either Mudgee or Broome, (b) Major City: development of an independent 5 star hotel in either Sydney, Melbourne or Cairns and (c) Environmental – Development of a hotel based on environmental tourism in Byron Bay, Whitsunday Islands or Kangaroo Island.
As well as a well documented feasibility study, the assignment also required a model of the proposed development culminating in a public exhibition on 28 May in the café and fine dining areas, open to staff and students for their evaluation.
Students’ displays were truly impressive with detailed models made from all sorts of materials supported by elaborate themed brochures, posters, business cards, marketing websites, computer “fly-through” floorplans and merchandise for such projects as The Centrin hotel in Sydney, Villa Le Mudgee, and Serenity Spa Resort in the Whitsundays.
“The best display, as rated by myself and their peers, was the display prepared by the Solar Eclipse team (Vivian Nguyen, Akriti Singh, Erin Oldaker, Billy Llloyd Green and Yuliya Chalaya), in relation to a 10 room and 5 cottage boutique hotel to be located in Broome,” says lecturer Mr Allan Keith, . “While all displays were good, this display was impressive based on the detail provided and the uniqueness of a model hung from the roof, allowing people to get a 360 degree perspective of their proposal.”
The best feasibility study was prepared by EcoConsultants (Rosemary Higgerson, Sandra , Kennis Wong, Ben Windeyer and Lindsey Norman), in relation to a 26 villa property to be located in Byron Bay. “The key to this property was its environmental focus,” says Mr Keith. “Interestingly the team concluded, based upon their financial analysis, that an independent property of this type and scope would not be feasible in Byron Bay at this time.”
