The curriculum at Cambridge Regional College has been designed involving employers from different sectors of the industry, stake holders’ parents and cross college staff. The majority of learners are 16-18 years-old on full time study programmes.
Timetables are planned to enable students to build confidence, develop their theory knowledge and apply their skills in real time. This results in learners feeling confident and competent working in the restaurant café areas.
Cambridge Regional College’s curriculum strategy is to build on the learners hard and soft skills, enabling all learners to become an asset to any business. The curriculum design was complemented by a Ofsted inspection January 2023. The study programme learners continue with Maths and English, which is embedded into sessions.
The 2023 Country Range Student Chef Competition gave learners and the department great insight into the heart of the industry, allowing learners to take part in a national competition against other students and meet lecturers, chefs and employers at the International Salon Culinaire.
The competition is a ‘wonderful showcase’ of how far learners have come. Last year Cambridge Regional College achieved the bronze medal in the competition. This this year they are heading back with a new team and hope to achieve a medal once again.
Cambridge Regional College believes that providing students with all the skills and knowledge they need to succeed is the key to a world-class education. Funding from The Savoy Trust will allow them to provide students with the best possible training and equipment so that they can start their careers with confidence and be industry-prepared.
The college looks forward to continuing to work with The Savoy Trust to help build a better future for the culinary arts and hospitality industry. The funding will be used to support student’s educational and vocational development in areas that need it the most.
The funding will provide a new coffee machine for barista training and a top-of-the-line juicer for the health bar. It will also provide service trolleys for preparing food at the table, which will help students develop key skills for restaurants. With gas hobs and other equipment, students will be able to continue to provide a table and section service on Fridays and throughout the restaurant offering.
The restaurant is open five days a week offering a weekly seasonal menu, which embeds the assessment criteria from the awarding body. Learners are able to build on their skills from the training sessions in a commercial setting.
These skills are then stretched into themed evening which take place once a month showcasing the learners exposure across the gastronomy journey of the world. These evening are very popular amongst guests.
A student said: “Cambridge Regional College offered the qualifications which I wanted to study. All the staff are very friendly and made me feel very welcome. The chef lecturers have given me an opportunity to work at Royal Ascot this year as well as the Open Golf in July which I am so excited about.”
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