The Centauri Café is opening new doors for our students by equipping them with the skills required to secure the first job in hospitality and related industries.
For Year 11 student Zara, joining the Café in 2024 as a Year 9 student gave her the opportunity to not only contribute to the school community but foster relationships with her peers, staff, and parents. “I’d never worked in a café and working at the [Centauri] Café has allowed me to get my first job in hospitality which has been really exciting and a great opportunity for me,” she said.
“You definitely get looked at first when you have that café experience because it’s not just knowing how to make drinks, it’s that you have good hospitality skills and you know how to serve people.”
The Centauri Café began in 2022 for students to gain hands on barista experience in a working café environment and prepare them for future employment pathways. In 2025 it became a Year 9,10, and 11 program, and is fully run and managed by students under the supervision of Centauri Café Manager and Senior Health/Science/Food Studies teacher, Kirsten Yeats who is also a certified barista.
Today the Café comprises of 30 student trainees and 6 student trainers many of whom joined the Café program in Year 9 and now train and mentor their younger peers on customer service skills, making coffees and beverages, cafe operations, and a welcoming customer experience.
“Guided by our values of Respect, Inclusivity, Excellence and Resilience, students build practical skills, develop meaningful connections, and gain a genuine sense of purpose through contributing to their team and school community.”
Having joined the Centauri Café in Year 9 to meet new people, gain new skills, and build on her confidence, Year 11 trainer Sabella has grown alongside the Café and credits it with placing her on the path to secure her current job in a local café.
“Working in the Centauri Café has helped me get a part-time job at a local café. It gave me the experience to learn how to make drinks, connect with new people, and accomplish new things,” she said.
Being a trainer in the Centauri Café has also been a full circle moment for Sabella, as she is now training her younger sister Olivia.
“I love to train my sister,” Sabella said. “It makes me so proud of her when she’s learning new things. And in a way I see myself in her because I started at the Café when I was in Year 9, and now I’m in Year 11 teaching my sister who is in Year 9. So, it’s almost like a full circle moment for me.”
The Café during its early years. During learning expos students had the opportunity to try new skills at the cafe with the supervision of our student trainers.
Olivia loves working at the Café and learning from her sister, having recently joined the program in July. She said, “Working in the cafe has been a great experience for me in learning new skills. It’s been great learning from my sister and enjoying the time spent with her and learning from her.”
Sabella’s leadership at the Centauri Café has also extended to leading and mentoring new hires at her workplace.
“At my job I’m training all the new hires on how to make coffees and how to do all the things I’ve been doing at the Centauri Café. The Café has given me the skills to speak to new people, to be able to guide them, and give them feedback.”
When speaking about the Café’s impact, Kirsten said, “It’s incredibly rewarding to hear that students have secured employment because of the skills and confidence they developed through the Centauri Café.
“Opportunities like the Centauri Café are so important because they give students the chance to develop real skills in a real environment where their contribution genuinely matters.
“Great coffee is the product. Developing confident, capable, and skilled students is the purpose.”
