31 Jan to 18 Feb, Theory course On Assessor, Facilitator and Coaching.

Assessor's  Course

From the 31st January to the 4th of February, I started my Assessor's course, it was a weeks course, with alot of listening, writing and reading involved.

I learned how to assess the 1st years fairly and correctly according to the correct policies and procedures. We learned that its not fail and pass, but rather competent and not yet competent. Learning to become an assessor was alot of hard work, but i enjoyed it and i understood what was required of me at the end.

Facilitator's Course
The 7th of February to the 11th of February, we started our facilitator's course, in this course we learned how to guide the learner in the correct path via questions and advice and other methodologies.

This course too was alot of listening, writing and reading, we did some roleplays and demonstrations, i chose to do Maintain OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) as my Unit standard for this course, as you need to be able to be safe and hygienic in the kitchen. The assessment for this course was a little more stressful than the assessors course, but when we got into it, we found it interesting and almost fun. I enjoyed doing this course as I now know the correct method of Facilitating the first year students so they don't find their chef's course too hard.

First Working Weekend(Fri 11th Feb - Sun 13th Feb)
On Friday night we did the weekly buffet at the Boma called the Meat lovers feast. There's always an assortments of meats, pork, beef, a venison potjie, some starch and then the salads.

On Saturday, there was a cooking demo in the morning where Chef William, Lilandi and myself did a cooking demo for a small group. We did a stir fry, some butterflied rump, and a pancake with smoke salmon and cream cheese.

On Sunday we did preparation for the Sunday lunch, then we served the Sunday lunch, then the normal kitchen cleaning.

Coaching Course

From the 14th Feb to the 18th Feb we did our coaching course. In  this course we learned how to coach or train the students in the correct methods and manners, according to policies and procedures.

We did alot of work in a very short time frame, due to conflict in the class. But once resolved the lessons continued and our facilitator taught us everything we needed to know.I stayed with Maintaining OHS for my unit standard, as I already knew what was going on in this U/S, the assessments went well. We mainly used demonstrations and roleplays to do our coaching, as in, The coach does the action first, explains, allows for questions, then the learner attempts doing the required task. The coach then provides feedback on how well the learner did, provides both strengths and weaknesses. Then reviews the coaching session.

Throughout all 3 courses, there was alot of team building and relationship building, I got to know the other 2nd year students a little better, there was alot of laughing involved, but even more learning. I enjoyed my time during the courses...

Working Weekend 2(18 Feb to 20 Feb)

On the Friday we did the Meat lovers Feast, I got a chance to work along side Chef Natalie and Chef William, carving meat and serving the guests.

Saturday, William and i did the cooking demo in the morning and prepared for the Sunday lunch.

Sunday, I started off by doing a wildlife centre breakfast, then came back to the farmyard and had to set up for Sunday lunch, and served guests till about half 1, shortly after that, all kitchen staff had to make sure the kitchen was spotless and clean.

After all the courses and my working weekends, I'm ready to start my chef course.