12th April 2013
November 2007: Capital Training
With close links to industry and a host of training contracts for some of London's leading restaurant companies, Lewisham College is well placed to meet the capital's growing hospitality training requirements in the run up to 2012
In the last four years Lewisham College's head of skills for hospitality, Kevin Cleaver, has been working hard to develop the scope and level of training available at the college, which was awarded Centre for Vocational Excellence status in 2004.
With a team of 13 lecturers, and around the same number of support staff, Cleaver oversees the hospitality department at which approximately 300 full and part time students study NVQ Levels 1 to 3. “They are what we would call our traditional students, aged from 16, all the way up to 60,” he explains. “But we also have around 900 Train to gain students, studying for their Level 2 qualification.”
The Government funded Train to Gain programme is a nationwide initiative aimed at upskilling people already in employment. Lewisham took part for the first time last year and with 900 employees enrolled this year, it claims to be the biggest Train to gain centre in London.
Aside from its Train to Gain contracts, which it carries out for organisations such as the Hoxton Apprentice, the college also provides the apprenticeship training for Paramount Restaurants (formerly Groupe Chez Gérard) and has recently taken on a major project for the London Development Agency through which it will deliver Level 2 qualifications to caterers in schools, care homes and hospitals across the capital.
The college's most high profile contract however is with Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. The restaurant's employees gain Level 1 qualifications during a full time intensive 14 week course, after which they spend a month working within the industry, before starting at Fifteen where they attend the college one day a week to gain their Level 2 qualification.
“We've been working with fifteen for three years now,” says Cleaver. “It was through Jamie that we took on the Greenwich dinner ladies featured in his School Dinners campaign, placing 40 of them on the Train to Gain programme. From there we got to work with Lewisham Borough's dinner ladies, and others have followed since.”
As well as opening doors for the college within the industry, its association with the celebrity chef has also helped raise its profile in the last few years, he says. “Working with people like Jamie Oliver and those at the Hoxton Apprentice, the college has gained a lot of contacts that has led to a really exciting programme for our students.
“We do a lot of charity functions. For example last year we hosted events with Anton Edelmann and Angela Hartnett, who came in and cooked alongside the students. Recently we served a function on the HMS Albion. It was a great experience for the students who got to travel on the ship from Portsmouth to Greenwich where it was moored for the event. Part of the joy of being in London is that we get invited to be involved with a lot of events like that.”
The college also makes the most of its close location to some of the country's top restaurants and hotels, with all Level 2 and 3 students spending two days a week working in the industry. “We're very lucky we can do this. For those outside London, students are sent in block placements, but they then come back and forget everything. By attending throughout the whole year they learn so much more and also, at the end ofthe year, the restaurants know them and know what they can do so often keep them on. We've had four students working at the Savoy Grill, all of which did their work placements there and stayed on.”
But it's not just the students that gain valuable experience. Cleave says that once a month chefs from the industry will come in to work alongside the students, cooking their signature dishes in the Phoenix restaurant, which benefits not only the students but the industry as well. “So many chefs are negative about colleges today, but when they come in and see what we are doing their attitude changes.”
Despite plans for a move to a brand new site in 2010, the college's current catering facilities are high tech, with all five kitchens having been refurbished in the last four years. “It was a relatively small department before, but hospitality is a big priority for London and we've invested around £1m in the college bringing all the facilities up to date,” he says. “Our e-kitchen is fitted with cameras and recording equipment, so the students can see everything being demonstrated. We also have video conferencing facilities, so we can share with other colleges when guest chefs are here. We're lucky to get these chefs in because of our location and can't keep them all to ourselves.” One of the most recently refurbished kitchens, fitted by Charvet, includes bespoke facilities for disabled students. “Because of the Disability Act we wanted to have something disabled students could access, so we contacted Charvet and they developed an induction hob and sink with a rise and fall facility for us so students in wheelchairs can use them.”
The department runs two restaurants at the college – the 80 cover Phoenix, which is staffed by Level 2 and 3 students, and the self service Brockley where Level 1 students gain their experience. Open to the public for lunch from Tuesday to Friday, the Phoenix serves modern French cuisine and also opens once a month for dinner. The Brockley serves traditional English dishes as well as a range of ethnic cuisines.
To ensure the college keeps abreast of the latest food trends and techniques in the industry, lecturers are sent on work placements for one week each year. “All our lecturers go out for industrial updating – we send them back to the floor. Placements include the Lanesborough and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons to mention just a few,” explains Cleaver.
The college also aims to stay up to date with any changes in qualifications and this year it is trialling the City & Guild's new VRQ programme. “We have sent some of our lecturing staff out to colleges that ran the pilot last year and this year we have our first group of students doing VRQ Level 1.”
On the competition front, the college has entered and reached the regional finals of competitions such as Nestlé's Toq d'Or and Restaurant Magazine's College Restaurant of Year, but hasn't as yet been involved in national salons such as Hotelympia. However that is all set to change. “The school has grown a lot in the last four years. I was brought in to expand the department and we've just employed a new lecturer, Steven Kendall – who has vast competition experience – with the aim of developing that side of things,” says Cleaver.
So are there any other plans in the pipeline? “We are looking at the possibility of having a commercial restaurant outside the college staffed by the students. It will act as a staging post for our students leaving the college, like a halfway house where they can gain real experience.”
With a team of 13 lecturers, and around the same number of support staff, Cleaver oversees the hospitality department at which approximately 300 full and part time students study NVQ Levels 1 to 3. “They are what we would call our traditional students, aged from 16, all the way up to 60,” he explains. “But we also have around 900 Train to gain students, studying for their Level 2 qualification.”
The Government funded Train to Gain programme is a nationwide initiative aimed at upskilling people already in employment. Lewisham took part for the first time last year and with 900 employees enrolled this year, it claims to be the biggest Train to gain centre in London.
Aside from its Train to Gain contracts, which it carries out for organisations such as the Hoxton Apprentice, the college also provides the apprenticeship training for Paramount Restaurants (formerly Groupe Chez Gérard) and has recently taken on a major project for the London Development Agency through which it will deliver Level 2 qualifications to caterers in schools, care homes and hospitals across the capital.
The college's most high profile contract however is with Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. The restaurant's employees gain Level 1 qualifications during a full time intensive 14 week course, after which they spend a month working within the industry, before starting at Fifteen where they attend the college one day a week to gain their Level 2 qualification.
“We've been working with fifteen for three years now,” says Cleaver. “It was through Jamie that we took on the Greenwich dinner ladies featured in his School Dinners campaign, placing 40 of them on the Train to Gain programme. From there we got to work with Lewisham Borough's dinner ladies, and others have followed since.”
As well as opening doors for the college within the industry, its association with the celebrity chef has also helped raise its profile in the last few years, he says. “Working with people like Jamie Oliver and those at the Hoxton Apprentice, the college has gained a lot of contacts that has led to a really exciting programme for our students.
“We do a lot of charity functions. For example last year we hosted events with Anton Edelmann and Angela Hartnett, who came in and cooked alongside the students. Recently we served a function on the HMS Albion. It was a great experience for the students who got to travel on the ship from Portsmouth to Greenwich where it was moored for the event. Part of the joy of being in London is that we get invited to be involved with a lot of events like that.”
The college also makes the most of its close location to some of the country's top restaurants and hotels, with all Level 2 and 3 students spending two days a week working in the industry. “We're very lucky we can do this. For those outside London, students are sent in block placements, but they then come back and forget everything. By attending throughout the whole year they learn so much more and also, at the end ofthe year, the restaurants know them and know what they can do so often keep them on. We've had four students working at the Savoy Grill, all of which did their work placements there and stayed on.”
But it's not just the students that gain valuable experience. Cleave says that once a month chefs from the industry will come in to work alongside the students, cooking their signature dishes in the Phoenix restaurant, which benefits not only the students but the industry as well. “So many chefs are negative about colleges today, but when they come in and see what we are doing their attitude changes.”
Despite plans for a move to a brand new site in 2010, the college's current catering facilities are high tech, with all five kitchens having been refurbished in the last four years. “It was a relatively small department before, but hospitality is a big priority for London and we've invested around £1m in the college bringing all the facilities up to date,” he says. “Our e-kitchen is fitted with cameras and recording equipment, so the students can see everything being demonstrated. We also have video conferencing facilities, so we can share with other colleges when guest chefs are here. We're lucky to get these chefs in because of our location and can't keep them all to ourselves.” One of the most recently refurbished kitchens, fitted by Charvet, includes bespoke facilities for disabled students. “Because of the Disability Act we wanted to have something disabled students could access, so we contacted Charvet and they developed an induction hob and sink with a rise and fall facility for us so students in wheelchairs can use them.”
The department runs two restaurants at the college – the 80 cover Phoenix, which is staffed by Level 2 and 3 students, and the self service Brockley where Level 1 students gain their experience. Open to the public for lunch from Tuesday to Friday, the Phoenix serves modern French cuisine and also opens once a month for dinner. The Brockley serves traditional English dishes as well as a range of ethnic cuisines.
To ensure the college keeps abreast of the latest food trends and techniques in the industry, lecturers are sent on work placements for one week each year. “All our lecturers go out for industrial updating – we send them back to the floor. Placements include the Lanesborough and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons to mention just a few,” explains Cleaver.
The college also aims to stay up to date with any changes in qualifications and this year it is trialling the City & Guild's new VRQ programme. “We have sent some of our lecturing staff out to colleges that ran the pilot last year and this year we have our first group of students doing VRQ Level 1.”
On the competition front, the college has entered and reached the regional finals of competitions such as Nestlé's Toq d'Or and Restaurant Magazine's College Restaurant of Year, but hasn't as yet been involved in national salons such as Hotelympia. However that is all set to change. “The school has grown a lot in the last four years. I was brought in to expand the department and we've just employed a new lecturer, Steven Kendall – who has vast competition experience – with the aim of developing that side of things,” says Cleaver.
So are there any other plans in the pipeline? “We are looking at the possibility of having a commercial restaurant outside the college staffed by the students. It will act as a staging post for our students leaving the college, like a halfway house where they can gain real experience.”