Local Bakery Champion Tests Her Skills in China

Jetsetting bakery champion Maddison (Maddy) McCloskey will travel to China this month for a week of intensive training at the Wangsen School in Suzhou, a city that has a population of 10.5mil people and is situated in the Jiangsu Province, about 100km northwest of Shanghai.

Maddy will train alongside the Chinese WorldSkills National team, who are preparing for the China national competition being held in June 2017.

The 21-year-old will test her skills against the Chinese competitors and she is hoping that it will help her chances of being selected into the Skillaroos team that will represent Australia at the WorldSkills international competition in Abu Dhabi from 14 – 19 October. If selected, Maddy will be up against competitors from 16 other countries in Abu Dhabi, all vying for the title of world champion.

”Pursuing a trade and entering the WorldSkills competitions had given me amazing opportunities and the chance to build such incredible skills that I couldn’t get anywhere else”, said Maddison.

“It completely changes you as a person – for the better.”

As part of her ongoing training and on the job development, Maddy is currently working at Drummoyne’s Bakehouse Café in New South Wales, saying her favourite part of training is “learning new techniques and the reward you feel when you succeed at them and create food people love to eat.”

WorldSkills Australia CEO Brett Judd congratulated Maddy on her success to date and said: “I can’t wait to see what the Skills Squad members can achieve on the international stage.”

We look forward to seeing what new skills Maddison can add to her repertoire after her trip to China!