15 students from our Hospitality and Gateway classes recently attended a Barista Course held onsite at Marlborough Girls College.

The course was delivered by The Learning Place who set up their coffee machines in one of our Hospitality kitchens. The students learnt about coffee origin and production, how to use commercial espresso equipment and how to prepare espresso beverages under supervision. All students completed the course successfully.

Some of the students already work in local hospitality jobs, others are heading off to Tertiary Study next year and now have an extra skill set they can add to their CV when looking for part time work. The students also gained 7 credits towards their NCEA qualification.

Thanks to Megan Luff, Gateway Coordinator and Robyn Anderson, Hospitality Teacher, for organising and supporting this great training opportunity.

Below some of our students share their learning.

Avpreet - Year 13 Gateway

The Barista course was an amazing opportunity for me to learn a new skill. I personally love coffee and to know how my favourite beverages are made and getting the chance to learn how to make them was absolutely enjoyable. I would recommend this course to everyone as it's a great way to get extra credits while having fun. Shout out to our instructors, Ricky and Zach for making this a memorable experience!

Aimee - Year 12 Gateway

I attended the Barista course on 20-21st and learnt a whole lot of new skills around making coffee. Ricky Clarke was our Kaiako for the day and his fun bubbly personality made this course an amazing experience and a great environment to learn. We made a variety of coffees including long blacks, flat white, latte, cappuccino and many more. Ricky was impressed with how quickly we learnt and us students decided to start a small business at school.. We made and sold coffees to the teachers for a gold coin donation which all donations went towards the hospice here in Blenheim. We were extremely successful and raised $100, this was a great experience.