Free lunch for UCOL Culinary students

4 October 2013

Free lunch for UCOL Culinary students

Two Whanganui UCOL culinary arts students have earned a year’s free study thanks to the City & Guilds International Foundation.

Both Sean Tauroa and Bradie Alabaster will have their 2014 tuition and assessment fees paid by the international education organisation.

By the end of this year, both Sean and Bradie will have completed a Certificate in Culinary Arts and Part 1 of the National Certificate in Hospitality (Cookery) Level 4. They will be eligible to study Part 2 and the Diploma in Professional Chef Practice Level 5 in 2014.

The pair, both in their mid-thirties, have similar life stories and coincidentally, attended the same school in Whanganui.

Sean got into cooking purely by accident while living in Wellington. “My friend owned a café and was looking for staff,” he says. “I told him I could help out.”

Over the next eight years Sean worked his way up from ‘dishy’ to running café kitchens. He spent his summers cooking in Coromandel. “I thought it was time I knuckled down and got some real qualifications.”

Cheap rent at a house his Mum owns in Whanganui made the decision to study culinary arts at UCOL an easy one.

Sean was surprised at how well he settled into tertiary study. “I thought it would be harder,” he says. “But when you are learning about something you love doing, it seems easier.” “Although there are a lot of references to French words – I wasn’t expecting that.”

He’ll have to get used to French if he succeeds in his next career goal. “I hope to be accepted into the Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in Wellington.”

Bradie also started his cookery career as a ‘dishy’. He worked as a chef in Taupo before moving to Coromandel to be a dive instructor for a few years. His new life and house in Christchurch was drastically affected by the earthquakes so he headed back home to Whanganui.

There were more personal challenges to come when Bradie suffered a major head injury in 2011. “During my 7 month recovery, the only thing I could really remember was how to cook.”

Once he was given the all clear to study, he turned his attention to getting qualified. “As an adult it was a bit of a struggle going ‘back to school’ but I am passing with flying colours,” says Bradie. “That is a credit to my tutors.”

The 36 year old solo dad also credits his huge family support network for his achievements. “It is a real juggling act studying full time while caring for a 3 year old daughter.”

Once he’s graduated from UCOL, Bradie wants to go ‘high end’. “I’d love to work in a flash restaurant, and one day I’d like to have one of my own.”

Along with completing their two advanced UCOL programmes in 2014, the pair will concurrently complete their City and Guilds International Diploma in Culinary Arts which is embedded within the New Zealand qualifications.

Associate Dean (Vocational) Tim Snape says more than 200 UCOL culinary and hospitality students have passed the City and Guilds accreditation, a qualification that is widely recognised and respected by employers.

“We are delighted that Sean and Bradie have been supported by the City and Guilds Foundation,” says Tim. “It is great to see students being encouraged to achieve their full potential in such a tangible way.”

City & Guilds is a world leading vocational education organisation.

The City & Guilds International Foundation offers bursaries (educational grants) to learners in selected countries outside the UK.

Whanganui UCOL is a designated City and Guilds Bursary centre for 2013/2014. It is one of more than 10,000 training centres across the world.

The bursary equates to a scholarship of GBP£3000.00 or approximately NZD$6000.00. This is credited towards the student’s tuition costs for 2014.

For more information visit www.ucol.ac.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media