Shanghai Young Bakers owes a great part of its success to its partners’, which have contributed, in some shape or form, to help train students to become professional bakers and pastry makers. The 5-star hotels and high-standard bakeries, which hire our Young Bakers as trainees throughout their year, make part of these crucial partners. Their role in educating our students is essential and well-worth pointing out at this time of year.
Since mid-October, our 32 students began interning in high-standard hotels and bakeries across Shanghai. After an initial 7-week training at SYB, they were ready to work in professional kitchens to further develop their skills. Though students were nervous about stepping foot in this new environment, they were also eager to discover how professional bakery and pastry kitchens operate. This year, we are very proud to be partnering with 11 5-star hotels and 2 high-standard bakeries in Shanghai, which will greatly contribute to helping our 10th batch of students succeed.
One of SYB’s strength lies in the professionalism it offers students from the onset of its program. This type of training is modeled after the French ‘alternance’ scheme, whereby students simultaneously learn a specific skill-set at school and in the work place. At SYB, students are separated into two groups: while one group is studying bakery or pastry in class with our professors, the other half is interning with our partner hotel or bakery.
This model greatly benefits SYB students and our partners on different levels. First of all, it enables students to develop their skills at a faster pace. By diversifying their training methods, students become more engaged and learn how to apply bakery and pastry techniques in various contexts. Second, thanks to the support of their mentors within the hotels and bakeries, SYB students can slowly gain the confidence needed to perform successfully in this new working environment. Most importantly, students develop an array of skills, which they will know how to apply in a professional environment as soon as they graduate from SYB. Training our students to become employable is one of SYB’s funding principles, which is why internships are at the core of its program.
Opening internship positions for SYB students is also a great asset for our partners. Because SYB students start interning early into the program, hotels and bakeries can tailor the students’ training to fit their own working environments. This enhances’ the students’ productivity and enables employers to train the students should they intend to hire trainees at the end of the year. In addition, in class, not only do SYB students learn how to bake products, which hotels and bakeries also produce, but they also learn to use ingredients, which are used in professional kitchens. Thus, SYB students already know a range of recipes and techniques, which enable them to be pro-active in the kitchen.
SYB is extremely grateful to receive support from its high-standard partner hotels and bakeries. This complementary training has evidently benefited SYB’s 214 students, enabling them to pursue professional careers immediately after graduation. We are delighted to have 13 reliable partners this year helping us pursue this goal.
Students’ internships are part of the rich experiences SYB offers its students throughout their training. SYB is fortunate to receive support from a range of partners which contribute to making the students’ education edifying and thrilling. For example, this year, before starting their internships, students received a hygiene and food safety training from Silliker, visited the Pudong Four Seasons hotel, and listened to a chef present professional kitchens’ working environment. All of these events gave our students great insight into the working milieu they would soon be joining. SYB is always seeking new ways of transferring knowledge to its students, and greatly appreciates the diversity of partners that contribute to driving its social mission.
Emma Louise Blondes
Partnership Manager