Parkhill Secondary School – Hospitality Education Award

School: Parkhill Secondary School

Type of Activity: The Hospitality Education Award

Name of Employer: Scottish School Food Awards

Industry Sector: Hospitality

Case Study

Parkhill Secondary School recently received the Hospitality Education Award from the Scottish Food School Awards.

The award was assigned as Parkhill is recognised to be leading the way in nurturing and encouraging future hospitality talent. Alongside the development of people skills and business acumen, it strives to identify and instil in its pupils the dual hallmarks of empathy and enthusiasm, both of which are essential attributes for a career in the hospitality sector.

As a small school, the staff at Parkhill can pinpoint the strengths of pupils at an early age. In the senior phase (S4-S6) pupils are offered a diverse range of flexible pathways to support them to achieve their goals. For pupils who identify hospitality as a future career goal, different strategies are implemented to support them including a bespoke and flexible timetable tailored to their particular interests, e.g. cooking, front of house, food production.

Staff support pupils to develop a range of skills through industry visits, ad hoc work experiences, input from visiting partners such as Hub International and City of Glasgow College, the Food School Scotland programme, a careers carousel as well as a curriculum that reflects the school’s focus on supporting pupils into positive and sustained destinations.

The school offers several vocational courses through its Enterprise Academy. The Enterprise Academy effectively operates as a very small college offering courses to pupils with Additional Support Needs from across the city.

Pupils also benefit from the diverse range of non-traditional subjects on offer in the school including outdoor learning, hotel skills, café skills and cooking classes.

The school has also a range of custom-built facilities which promote non-traditional subjects, in particular those from the hospitality sector. These include a professional kitchen, café space and hotel bedroom.

Results/Outcome

Over the years we have supported a number of young people into the hospitality industry.

Benefits

It was an amazing recognition and having this special award will be highly motivating for staff and pupils

Testimonials

“We are incredibly proud of this big achievement.”