The Epic Thursday programme provides the opportunity for our students to gain real-life, supported work experience in the hospitality and catering sector, as we take over the running of The Swan, Clewer, for a 2-hour shift every Thursday in term time. 

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Students interact with real customers, greeting them as they arrive, serving food and drinks, taking payments, clearing tables and all the other jobs that are vital to the running of a successful enterprise. 

Students are part of the broader staff team on Thursday, and are allocated shift managers to oversee and support them. 

 

As the year progresses and their skills and confidence builds, students take more of a role in the planning and organisation of the day, such as coming up with themes for each Epic Thursday, producing the marketing materials, managing communications and analysing customer trends. 

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At the end of each Epic Thursday, students reflect on their shift and assess how well they managed to apply the ROCCIT competencies to their work.