Dartington partnership expands College apprenticeship programme

South Devon College and The Dartington Hall Trust has developed a new partnership that will expand the apprenticeship training available for the hospitality and tourism sector in the South Devon area.

South Devon College and Dartington have been developing their apprenticeship provision together during 2011, with two business administration apprentices, a customer service apprentice and a human resource apprentice already in post at Dartington Hall.

It has now been agreed to take this development to the next stage, with a training programme for Professional Chef apprenticeships taking place at Dartington, delivered by SDC teaching staff. The new day release programmes will commence in April 2012.

“We are really excited by the new partnership with Dartington Hall,” said Adele Dawson, Senior Manager at SDC with overall responsibility for the apprenticeship programme. “The College is an award winner, with Grade One from Ofsted for our apprenticeship delivery. Dartington Hall is a winner too, with their recent Condé Nast Johansens Award for Excellence in Sustainable Hospitality & Corporate Social Responsibility. We have all the ingredients in place for an outstanding professional chef programme.”

To celebrate the new development and promote the benefits of the professional chef apprenticeship programme, there will be a launch at a special dinner in the White Hart restaurant at Dartington on Tuesday 21st February. The dinner will be developed and prepared by apprentice chefs, and presented by the College’s own Horizons restaurant team, as part of their training restaurant Horizons ‘pop-up’ tour of South Devon.

To raise public awareness of the restaurant facilities and the quality of the food and dining experience at Horizons, South Devon College has arranged the ‘pop-up’ tour to take the restaurant around South Devon. The Dartington event on 21st February will be the first stop on the tour, with a ticket price of £12.95 for two courses and a glass of wine. To book please call the White Hart on 01803 847147.

David Galpin, Head of Catering, Hospitality & Tourism at South Devon College, explained, “We really hope to create a mutually beneficial partnership between the College, local industry and local community, and working with Dartington Hall is a fantastic start. We are all very much looking forward to the event in February.”

The College works with employers who are looking for apprentices and is always willing to hear from employers who would like to consider offering apprenticeship opportunities. For more information please call 01803 540 600 or visit www.southdevon.ac.uk.