TAS & VET – Year 10 Hospitality students Explore the Inner Workings of Sydney Tower

Our Year 10 Hospitality students took their learning to new heights recently with an exciting excursion to the iconic Sydney Tower. The trip offered a fascinating look behind the scenes of a real, fast-paced commercial production kitchen, followed by some high-altitude sightseeing and dining.

The day kicked off deep downstairs in the tower’s production kitchen. It was amazing to see professional chefs in action and get a look at the scale of the machinery needed to feed thousands of people. Students got up close with serious commercial equipment like giant combi ovens, bratt pans and planetary mixers. We were then taken through the strict food safety routines that happen every single day, such as logging cool room temperatures, stock rotation techniques, labelling and cleaning schedules. It was a fantastic real-world lesson in how a top-tier kitchen actually runs.

After the kitchen tour, we took the lift all the way to the top of the tower to check out Bar 83. The retro decor was stunning, but the panoramic views of Sydney completely stole the show. While we were up there, we also picked up some great trivia about the tower itself. Did you know the entire structure is kept stable during high winds by a massive water tank at the very top? We also learned about Charlie, the tower’s resident window-washing robot who is kept busy cleaning all that glass!

To finish off a brilliant day, we were treated to an incredible buffet lunch at SkyFeast. The food selection was massive, featuring dishes from all over the world. It was great to see students stepping out of their comfort zones to try new things, while also indulging in crowd favourites—especially the fresh seafood!

It was a fantastic day out, and our Year 10s represented the school beautifully. A huge thank you to the team at Sydney Tower for having us!

Jesslyn Whitfield
Technology/Hospitality Teacher