Sarah passes on her passion for baking

After building a successful career as a chef, pastry chef and business owner, she now shares her industry knowledge with future bakers, helping students gain practical skills and confidence for rewarding careers in the industry.

Long before she stepped into the classroom as an educator, Sarah was a student herself, beginning her vocational training journey at TAFE Queensland after leaving high school with dreams of becoming a chef.

“When I finished high school, I knew I wanted to be a chef, so I went and did a pre-vocational course at TAFE Queensland’s South Bank campus,” she said.

That six-month course became the foundation for a career spanning fine dining restaurants, luxury hotels, patisserie kitchens and business ownership.

While undertaking her course, Sarah was offered a kitchen hand position through one of her educators, which quickly led to an apprenticeship.

After completing her apprenticeship in Brisbane, Sarah worked in several acclaimed restaurants before securing a role in the pastry kitchen at Brisbane’s Sheraton Hotel.

“I worked for four years at the Sheraton in the pastry kitchen doing baking and pastry work. So for me, that was a dream come true,” she said.

Driven by a passion for baking and pastry, Sarah later established her own wholesale and retail patisserie business in Wynnum, supplying cakes and pastries to cafés and restaurants while operating a café-patisserie storefront.

Following the sale of the business to start a family, she transitioned into training and assessment for a community-based organisation before joining TAFE Queensland as an educator.

Today, Sarah teaches the Certificate II in Baking (FBP20221) to TAFE at School students at TAFE Queensland’s Ipswich campus, helping aspiring bakers gain practical, industry-relevant skills in a commercial training environment.

The course isn't just for school students however, it's also open to members of the community who want to gain hands-on baking skills, pursue a career change, or build a pathway into a baking apprenticeship or entry-level role in the industry.

Proud to work for Queensland's leading training provider, Sarah values the opportunity to help students develop the skills and confidence to pursue meaningful careers.

“TAFE Queensland is recognised as Queensland's leading training provider, and I'm really proud to work for an organisation that helps people gain the skills and confidence to change their lives through education,” she said.

Having experienced the life-changing impact of vocational education herself, Sarah understands the important role educators play in helping students achieve their goals.

“My career path was because of TAFE. And if I can just do a little bit for my students, the way that the educators did for me when I was at TAFE, then that's more than enough, I think,” she said.

Sarah particularly enjoys working with TAFE at School students as they explore potential career pathways and discover a passion for baking.

“We have a lot of young people come through the kitchen doors here, which is fantastic,” she said.

“They're a great group of young people who are still completing school.”

Students learn everything from mixing and shaping dough to producing commercial-quality baked goods. Sarah believes some of the most valuable lessons come from understanding the fundamentals of baking.

“When we start with the basics, I make them knead dough by hand, just so that they appreciate what the machines do for you,” said Sarah.

Watching students transform simple ingredients into finished products is one of the most rewarding parts of her role.

“For our students, it’s seeing the end result and being able to smell the amazing smells of the bread and then being able to try their bread,” she said.

“I think the favourite part of students is them trying their own products.”

And while fresh bread is always popular, Sarah says there is one category that consistently wins students over.

“One of the most favourite lessons is definitely baking cinnamon buns and we bake finger buns and cream buns. So the sweet stuff definitely wins every time,” she added.