Hospitality and Tourism Academy Case Study: Ciaran Gibson (17) from Knox Academy, Haddington
Ciaran is currently in his 6th year at Knox Academy while undertaking the 1st year of the Hospitality and Tourism Academy.
This means he’s in the unique position of being able to take classes at Edinburgh College and Queen Margaret University whilst he’s still at school.
Ciaran has always been interested in food and hospitality. He studied Home Economics at school and his family are all quite food orientated, so Ciaran has done a bit of cooking before he joined the Academy.
He explained: “I could do the basics in the kitchen but now that I have been involved with the Hospitality and Tourism Academy I’ve really grown in confidence. I’m now able to produce a range of impressive dishes such as chicken chasseur, roast pork with roast vegetables and carrot crisps.
“I’ve had some really good kitchen experience and been involved in producing three course meals for 40 people at a special event in Edinburgh College’s EH15 restaurant. It’s been good to learn about the different roles involved in restaurant work and we’ve all had an opportunity to work in the kitchen – doing the practical food preparation – as well as working in service and meeting and greeting at front of house. It’s helpful to see how all these roles fit together and to learn to work as part of the team. When you have to take on these roles for real you begin to understand how everyone is relying on everyone to do their bit.
“The Academy is helping me to broaden my understanding of the Hospitality and Tourism Industry. I didn’t know much about the industry before I started, but I feel I’ve now got a good idea about the range of jobs available and what they involve. I can now describe what’s involved in many of the roles such as kitchen porter, restaurant manager, front of house and reception. Through the Academy I have gained some experience working in some of these roles and, although I quite liked the practical aspect of the food preparation in the kitchen, I realised that I preferred working at the customer facing end – meeting the customers and communicating with them directly.
“I used to be really shy but the Academy experience has helped bring me out of my shell. I’ve learned to talk to new people and that’s really helped to build my confidence.
“I really enjoyed the Food and Beverage module where we learned about alcohol measures and licensing laws. I also got some practical bar work experience as part of my front of house training.
“Having gained more of an insight into the industry and I’m now keen to learn more about events management. I’m hoping to secure a place on the HND Events Management at Edinburgh College and I may choose to go on to university. However, I might decide to go straight into industry after my college course – or maybe I’ll do a bit of both – work and study at the same time.
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Academy experience has been the opportunity to meet new people. Before taking part in the Academy, I would never go out of my comfort zone. I always socialised with the same group of friends. The Academy has given me the opportunity to mix with people from different schools and I now find that I’m far more confident and sociable than I ever used to be. I talk to lots of different people at school now, and that can only be a good thing. So, for me, the Academy experience has become much more than just an opportunity to learn about jobs and the industry. It is helping me grow as a person and to create more opportunities for myself. I’d definitely recommend the Academy to anyone who wants to improve their education and career opportunities and to people who would benefit from different ways of learning that are not always covered at school.”
Ciaran is currently in his 6 th year at Knox Academy while undertaking the 1 st year of the Hospitality and Tourism Academy. This means he’s in the unique position of being able to take classes at Edinburgh College and Queen Margaret University whilst he’s still at school.
Ciaran has always been interested in food and hospitality. He studied Home Economics at school and his family are all quite food orientated, so Ciaran has done a bit of cooking before he joined the Academy.
He explained: “I could do the basics in the kitchen but now that I have been involved with the Hospitality and Tourism Academy I’ve really grown in confidence. I’m now able to produce a range of impressive dishes such as chicken chasseur, roast pork with road vegetables and carrot crisps.
“I’ve had some really good kitchen experience and been involved in producing three course meals for 40 people at a special event in Edinburgh College’s EH15 restaurant. It’s been good to learn about the different roles involved in restaurant work and we’ve all had an opportunity to work in the kitchen – doing the practical food preparation – as well as working in service and meeting and greeting at front of house. It’s helpful to see how all these roles fit together and to learn to work as part of the team. When you have to take on these roles for real you begin to understand how everyone is relying on everyone to do their bit.
“The Academy is helping me to broaden my understanding of the Hospitality and Tourism Industry. I didn’t know much about the industry before I started, but I feel I’ve now got a good idea about the range of job available and what they involve. I can now describe what’s involved in many of the roles such as kitchen porter, restaurant manager, front of house and reception. Through the Academy I have gained some experience working in some of these roles and, although I quite liked the practical aspect of the food preparation in the kitchen, I realised that I preferred working at the customer facing end – meeting the costumers and communicating with them directly.
“I used to be really shy but the Academy experience has helped bring me out of my shell. I’ve learned to talk to new people and that’s really helped to build my confidence.
“I really enjoyed the Food and Beverage module where we learned about alcohol measures and licensing laws. I also got some practical bar work experience as part of my front of house training.
“Having gained more of an insight into the industry and I’m now keen to learn more about events management. I’m hoping to secure a place on the HND Events Management at Edinburgh College and I may choose to go on to university. However, I might decide to go straight into industry after my college course – or maybe I’ll do a bit of both – work and study at the same time.
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Academy experience has been the opportunity to meet new people. Before taking part in the Academy, I would never go out of my comfort zone. I always socialised with the same group of friends. The Academy has given me the opportunity to mix with people from different schools and I now find that I’m far more confident and sociable than I ever used to be. I talk to lots of different people at school now, and that can only be a good thing. So, for me, the Academy experience has become much more than just an opportunity to learn about jobs and the industry. It is helping me grow as a person and to create more opportunities for myself. I’d definitely recommend the Academy to anyone who wants to improve their education and career opportunities and to people who would benefit from different ways of learning that are not always covered at school.”
Notes to Editor
For further media information contact Lynne Russell, Marketing Manager, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, E: lrussell@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000, M: 07711 011239 and Jon Perkins, Press and PR Officer, E: jperkins@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000.
