A look back at the annual meeting of former students: an unbreakable link with the School of Pastry and Agroecology

A look back at the annual meeting of former students: an unbreakable link with the School of Pastry and Agroecology

by | 24 Aug 2023 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school

At the beginning of July, a milestone event brought together former students, a vibrant symbol of the vitality and sustainability of our School of Pastry and Agroecology.

The annual meeting of alumni brought together an impressive participation of more than a hundred graduates from the eight previous promotions. For many of them, this gathering involved a trip from Phnom Penh, testifying to the continued commitment and the unbreakable bond that our alumni have with our institution.

The days of the meeting were punctuated by a variety of stimulating activities, from team-building sessions to convivial games, through the sharing of moving testimonies and moments of conviviality.

This event offered a privileged opportunity for our former students to dialogue with the current promotion, to reconnect with their teachers and to rediscover the warm atmosphere of the school which trained them.

annual meeting bayon school
team building bayon school
alumnis annual meeting bayon school

As part of this exceptional meeting, we conducted interviews with 102 graduates of the École de Pâtisserie, covering the period from 2014 to the present day. The results of these interviews are instructive. Indeed, 62% of graduates continue to work in their initial field of training, and a comfortable majority of 86% receive a sufficient salary to cover their daily needs.

These figures underline the effectiveness of our educational program and the relevance of the training provided. Moreover, the positive feeling of former students is reflected in the statistics, with 79% of them expressing their satisfaction with their training. Even more remarkable, 62% have moved into professional positions that truly fulfill them personally and professionally.

This annual meeting demonstrated that our school continues to inspire, guide and contribute significantly to the professional growth of our graduates. We are proud of our alumni community and look forward to continuing to share their exemplary journey with future generations.

Art worshops in Bayon schools!

Art worshops in Bayon schools!

by | 19 Apr 2023 | Bakery and pastry school, General education, Primary school

We had the great pleasure to welcome Gilles in March, along with his friend Nathalie, for art and creation workshops in our primary school and pastry and bakery school.

Gilles, a young retiree, is passionate about art, especially wood and metal sculpture. As he says so well, “I hurt the metal so that it lives”. Gilles and Nathalie have worked with our students on several art projects.

First of all, at the primary school, the wall of Elodie’s canteen was decorated with fruits and vegetables as well as numbers in Khmer and English. This project was discussed with Vantha, the school director, who wanted to enrich the wall with educational and pedagogical elements. The students can now practice both languages. This project was carried out with students from Grade 1 to 6.

A mural with a natural decor was also created with the help of the school’s pedagogical team who were inspired by the nature present in Cambodia and around the school such as geckos, a beehive, birds, flowers…

The playground of our students was also redesigned, two new structures were created from rubber tires. The students dug the ground to be able to attach the tires in order to create a course as well as 2 racing cars. They then painted these new cars in the colors of Cambodia!

In addition, in the pastry and bakery school art projects took place around the use of wood. The students worked on what pastry and bakery represented for them. Then, they drew their representations on wooden logs and made engravings using a pyrography machine. Afterwards, these creations were assembled to create a composition in the garden of our Coffee Shop.

The students let their creativity run wild and painted our pond with a “nature” theme. They had fun painting water lilies, flowers, fish and turtles.

In a perspective of renovation and improvement of our visibility, the wall that borders the street leading to our Coffee Shop needed a good refreshment. To do so, the students and the pedagogical team of the pastry and bakery school cleaned the wall and then repainted it in the school’s colors! We decided to add a little fantasy by illustrating some of the pastries and drinks offered on the menu of our Coffee Shop.

Art workshop pastry students

For Gilles, sharing with students is always an unforgettable moment. As Charlie Chaplin said, “Children have talent, it’s just a matter of showing it”. These workshops have allowed our students to express their creativity and talents. They are now proud to see their creations displayed in their respective schools. Bayon School aspires to further develop these extra-curricular activities with the aim of stimulating curiosity and developing their ability to imagine and interact.

Once again, we would like to thank Gilles and Nathalie for their time, support and investment at our side. We look forward to seeing you next year for new projects!

Pedagogical exchanges at Bayon Agroecology School

Pedagogical exchanges at Bayon Agroecology School

by | 18 Apr 2023 | Agroecology training, General education, Sustainable agriculture and environment

In March, we had the pleasure to welcome Pauline, Director of the volunteer pole at Planète Urgence. She came as a volunteer during her two weeks of solidarity leaves and worked with our pedagogical team from the agroecology school.

Her role was to support the team of teachers in order to diversify their pedagogical techniques such as the animation of the courses, the place of the teacher and the student. The goal was to succeed in motivating students who were dropping out of school.

Pauline was able to discover Cambodia and observe cultural differences. She underlines the curiosity of the students. The students also show kindness and mutual aid among themselves, which creates a favorable climate for learning and the use of authority is very rare.

Aiming to improve our training to students, her venue brought new evaluation techniques with construction workshops based on collective intelligence. For this, they used photo language with Metafox cards. At the beginning, the feedbacks on the exercise were shy, the students were facing their emotions and feelings, which is not cultural in Cambodia. Gradually, through weekly practice, they were able to free themselves. Moreover, the coaching cards have different meanings with the culture, which leads the students to go further than the meaning of the card and pushes them in their reflection.

This gave her the opportunity to be creative in a way that is not possible in France in terms of teaching. Pauline has lived this experience as a rich human adventure in terms of exchange and understanding of the culture, where it is important to ask questions before the exercise in order to adapt to the students. She particularly enjoyed talking about meditation and body relaxation. Indeed, in Cambodia, a lot of skills are applied but not the emotions and feelings. The students appreciated this new approach.

Our pedagogical team has been very open to improve their training skills and learning more about pedagogy. They are very happy to have benefited from Pauline’s expertise and thus diversify their knowledge. What they remember most is the use of demonstration in their teaching rather than theory. Pauline and our pedagogical team from the agroecology school have been enriched by this sharing and exchange.

We would like to thank Pauline for her involvement and support.

Culture and creativity with ក្រូចឆ្មារ – Kroojchmar Magazine

Culture and creativity with ក្រូចឆ្មារ – Kroojchmar Magazine

by | 18 Apr 2023 | General education, Primary school

ក្រូចឆ្មារ – Kroojchmar is the first Cambodian magazine focuses on developing children’s creativity. The magazine format is quite unique, written in Khmer and English addressed to children from 9 to 12 years old (Grade 4, 5 and 6). It’s an invitation to discover through stories, activities or case studies, the daily like of Cambodia. Written and illustrated by Cambodian artists, this magazine also aims to support and promote their work.

Kroojchmar Magazine visuel 2

Thanks to a donation from Section Internationale, an international English school for children from Grade 1 to Grade 12, Bayon School subscribed for one-year magazine for our Primary School’s to Grade students from Grade 4 to 6. They will have in total 6 issues, all on different topics.

Distribution Kroojchmar Magazine
Distribution Kroojchmar Magazine

At Bayon School, we are convinced that art and culture are an integral part of the child’s awakening and development. In 2018, we started the Art, Culture and Sport program, aimed to strengthen the creativity, self-confidence and personal thinking skills of Bayon School students. Through this program, the school wishes to awaken the students’ curiosity and enrich their personal culture, to value and recognize Khmer culture and to encourage the values of respect for oneself and others.

Photo groupe distribution kroojchmar magazine

We are very pleased to be able to subscribe to this magazine. Indeed, their objectives are in symbiosis with the aspirations we have for our students. This magazine is a tool to stimulate children’s curiosity and develop their ability to transform, imagine and create. The pedagogical approach responds to our desire to increase their autonomy and interactivity. We are as well proud to support local initiatives.

A warmly thank to Section Internationale and ក្រូចឆ្មារ – Kroojchmar

A Meilleur Ouvrier de France at the Bayon pastry school

A Meilleur Ouvrier de France at the Bayon pastry school

by | 5 Jan 2023 | Bakery and pastry school, Coffee Shop, Vocational training

During the month of December, we were once again lucky enough to welcome Fabrice Prochasson, Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1996, for a week at our pastry school.

Prochasson et équipe Bayon

In 1982, encouraged by his mother, Fabrice Prochasson discovered the world of gastronomy, which he never left. He first worked at Lenôtre as head of Research and Development from 1999 to 2002. He realized several prestigious events such as the inauguration the tunnel under the Manche in 1992, the 1998 and 2006 soccer world cups and the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.    

In 1996, he became Meilleur Ouvrier de France in the cooking category and was the official coach of the French winner of the Bocuse d’Or in 2013, Thibaut Ruggeri.

In 2016, he joined the Aryzta Group as creative and innovation manager for the group’s brands including Coup de pates®. For more than 50 years, Coup de pates® has been serving the entire catering industry with finished and semi-finished frozen products, combining innovation and tradition. Coup de pates and Chef Fabrice Prochasson have supported the Bayon Pastry School since 2018.

Last December, the chef came to visit us for a week to cook with our students. This is not Mr. Prochasson’s first time to help the Bayon. Indeed, he already came once to Siem Reap in March 2019 to delight us during the Charity Gala.

Throughout the week, our students had the chance to cook with him to prepare the event “The Bayon Gathering Night”. The goal of this evening was to bring together again friends of the Bayon in Cambodia. For this occasion, we prepared a buffet worthy of the name. Foccacia, shrimp skewers, tempura, leek quiche, coffee marinated salmon, macarons, millefeuilles… our guests enjoyed the food, and our students had a great time cooking with the chef.

Invités et buffet - Bayon Gathering Night
Etudiante en préparation - Bayon Gathering Night
Buffet - Bayon Gathering Night

We are especially proud to have been able to bring all these beautiful people together in this lovely place called Endora. And we are proud of our students and colleagues for the delicious food. We thank them for their commitment and motivation throughout the week. To congratulate them, we also organized a graduation ceremony in the presence of the chef so that the students will keep a very good memory of this week.

We also thank Chef Fabrice Prochasson for his kindness, his sharing of knowledge and his benevolence with our students.

Our projects do not stop there, we have great prospects for the year 2023 with Coup de pates and the Chef Fabrice Prochasson whom we thank greatly for their support.