Winter 2013 Edition

The Magazine from The Schools’ Business Partnership

In this issue...A special feature on our Time to Read Launch with Minister Ruairi Quinn,

We meet a mentor from Limerick IT and talk to a student from St Dominics SS, BallyfermotFind out what some of St Aidan’s CS students were at on the Luas line, and more...!

Links

In this Issue

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Front Cover PhotosLeft Column (top to bottom):Time to Read Launch featuring Robyn Maher and Ellie Spain from St Patrick’s Girls’ NS with Pat O’Doherty CEO, ESB Group.Students from O’ Carolan College, Nobber during a Site Visit to Smurfit Kappa News Press Ltd. Right Column (top to bottom):At the partnership launch between St Colman’s, Midleton & AbbVie, Carrigtwohill. Back Row: Katharyna Krause, Brian O’Shea, Principal - Gerry Kelly, Thomas Shanahan, Dean Tynan, Diane Beckingham (SBP). Front Row: Pauline Morrison - HR Manager AbbVie, Carrie Shanahan, Karen Hill - HR Business Partner.Students from Tullamore College browsing Covidien Cultural Cuisine Cookbook.Staff from International Fund Services during mock interviews with a student of Piper’s Hill College, Kildare.

Welcome Page 2Germaine Noonan, Manager of The Schools’ Business Partnership, welcomes readers to this edition of LINKS and highlights the continued work, achievements and challenges of SBP.

Skills @ Work Page 3We have a look at a unique partnership in Athy as a 40 year company celebration commences.

New Partnerships Page 4We welcome 10 new partnerships to The Schools’ Business Partnership.

Mentoring Page 5We look at the fantstic partnership between Yahoo! and Ardscoil La Salle, Raheny, Dublin.

Skills @ Work Page 6We hear what the Principal, Company Coordinator and students say about their link between Allergan Pharmaceuticals and Davitt College, Castlebar.

Time to Read Pages 7 Highlights from the launch of the Time to Read Programme from Fania Ellison, Time to Read Coordinator.

Mentoring Page 8Kristin Quinn, the ESB’s Corporate Responsibility Manager tells us about the ESB’s partnership with Rosmini CS, Dublin 9.

Skills @ Work Page 9 We take a look at two intersting partnerships doing the Skills @ Work programme: Enniscorthy VS and Pettitt’s Supervalue and Cobh CC and GE Healthcare.

Meet the ... Mentor and Student Page 10In this issue we meet mentor Barry Coleman from Limerick Institute of Technology and student Nadine Maher from St. Dominic’s SS, Ballyfermot.

Skills @ Work Page 11Janessa Scott from St. Aidan’s Community School, Dublin 24 tells us about her Site Visit to the Luas.

Links features... Page 12Dr. Eleanor Walsh tells us about Carambola Kidz and their partnership with Cresent College Comp.

Skills @ Work Page 13Mary Mulligan, Principal of St. Joseph’s SS, Navan talks about their partnership with Generali.

Meet the...Company Coordinator and Company Volunteers Page 14We meet Anne Sweeney from Fexco, Kerry and two volunteers from Thermo King, Galway.

Welcome

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Welcome to our Winter edition of LINKS

It’s always a great time of year when the festive season nears and a long year comes to an end. Looking back it has been a great one with 20 new partnerships established; 191 schools now matched which brings us close to next year’s target of matching 200 School Completion Programme schools with a business partner.

It’s energizing for our team to be connecting the worlds of business and education because of the openness of both sectors to connect, engage and support one another – Ireland is quite unique globally in this context.

The highlights of the year were the launch of Time to Read in Ireland by Minister Ruairi Quinn and you can read about this on page 7 and I am making a Call to Action for Irish businesses to get involved in this wonderful programme with 7 – 9 year old children in a local school. We want many companies to sign up and ensure Ireland makes further inroads on our PISA standings following the recent recovery of lost ground since 2009.

We have also had a number of schools availing of our Management Excellence for Teachers Programme and let us know if you are interested in this free high quality support for personal and professional development for your school. We look forward to 2014 with real enthusiasm as we progress our journey on Time to Read and also our other new area - STEM Seeing is Believing for

Science & Technology teachers. If your company is interested in this we would be delighted to hear from you as it’s a great way to connect with those teaching our young people about science.

Míle buíochas to everyone who leads their schools and companies in our programmes!

Enjoy all the upcoming festivities and a very happy Christmas to you all!

Germaine NoonanProgramme Manager

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Partnership in Athy as a 40 year celebration commences...

Skills @ Work

Pictured here are Ms Tyrell, Ms Parry and students from 5th year Athy Community College with Ber McEvoy from

Athy International Concentrates

Athy International Concentrates joined The Schools’ Business Partnership in 2011 and is linked with Athy Community College. While Athy International Concentrates and its staff are no strangers to the school having been onsite in Athy for 40 years and with the plant employing past pupils of the College, their involvement in the Skills @ Work programme has deepened and formalised the relationship.

The school recognises the programme as a bridge between classroom learning and real life experience and constantly works to improve on student experiences each academic year. As Principal Richard Daly said: ‘‘This type of practical experience coming from a working environment is an invaluable asset to the students in their preparation for the world of work’’.

Ber McEvoy of Athy International Concentrates views the programme not only as a ‘‘contribution to the community through the school,’’ but as of ‘‘real value to the Associates on the site, allowing them to boost their confidence in presenting to the students while showing pride in their ability to talk about their roles in the business and their route to employment’’.

‘Engagement’ is a core value in Athy International Concentrates and the Skills at Work programme allows the company to engage directly with its community stakeholders, the staff to engage directly with students and the school to engage with their local business.

Having participated in the Day in the Life and Site Visit, the students are looking forward to 2014 and the further involvement of Athy International Concentrates staff in CV preparation, mock interviews, presentation skills and the all-important wrap session, which was exceptional last year.

Glasses charged and here’s to another 40 years in Athy!

Staff & students ‘suiting up’ before entering the production site.

Matched in 2011, Athy International Concentrates and Athy College have developed their link over the last few years and in this Athy International Concentrate’s 40th year in Athy their partnership deepens, Clodagh Gorman, Regional Coordinator reflects on their plans for academic year 2013/2014.

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We would like to welcome 10 new companies and schools to SBP

New Partnerships

Our recent new SBP Partnerships! Welcome to all and best wishes for many years of great experiences, benefits and fun times!

School Company

St. Michael’s Holy Faith SS, Finglas Kuehne & Nagel

O’Fiaich College, Dundalk Irish Life, Dundalk

Davitt College, Mayo Allergan

Moville College, Donegal FirstSource Solutions UK Ltd.

Presentation SS, Waterford Waterford City Council

St. Aidan’s CS, Cork Janssen Biologics (Ireland) Ltd.

Lanesboro College, Roscommon Abbott Ireland Diagnostics Ltd.

Palmerstown CS, Dublin 20 AbbVie

Royal & Prior College, Raphoe, Donegal Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny

Coláiste Eoin, Finglas Ceva Logistics

Yahoo! has been involved in The Schools’ Business Partnership since 2006 and have run a very successful Skills @ Work Programme with Ardscoil La Salle. Myriam Hackett, the very committed school coordinator, has been eager to commence student mentoring in the school

with Yahoo! Myriam feels that:

The first Yahoo!/Ardscoil La Salle mentoring programme commenced this September 2013, to both the school’s and the company’s delight.The launch of the programme was held in the fabulous Yahoo! offices in East Point Business Park on October 16th and was attended by the students, the mentors, Lorraine Shiels (Yahoo’s Mentoring Programme Coordinator), Annemarie Kehoe (Skills @ Work Programme Coordinator), Myriam Hackett School Coordinator and the school’s acting Principal Colm Mythen. Yahoo’s Vice President of Audit and Compliance Dan McCarthy welcomed everyone to Yahoo and launched the mentoring programme. It was great to see individuals from both the school and the company at the launch as it fortified the importance of the occasion and indicated the support that is there for the programme from both sides. The student and mentor matches were announced at the launch and they chatted nervously when they met each other for the first time. There was a great buzz in the room as they all got to know each other. There have been two mentoring sessions so far. On speaking to the students Myriam remarked that:

There is great excitement about the first social event which is rumoured to be an afternoon of trampolining with their Yahoo! mentors. After a ‘bounding start’ to the programme we at The Schools’ Business Partnership are certainly excited about what lies ahead for Yahoo! and Ardscoil La Salle!

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Off to a bounding start!Miriam Kenny, SBP coordinator, fills us in on the mentoring programme with Yahoo and Ardscoil

La Salle, Raheny, Dublin

Mentoring

5th year students from Ardscoil La Salle with their Yahoo mentors plus Myriam Hackett, Colm Mythen, Dan McCarthy, Lorraine Shiels and Annemarie Kehoe pictured at the mentoring launch in

October in Yahoo’s Offices East Point Business Park.

“After each visit to their mentors I find that they are glad to be part of it and seem more confident and

relaxed in themselves”

“all teens need someone more sensible and more mature to talk to, bounce ideas off, and get advice from someone other than parents and teachers.”

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A Day in Allergan PharmaceuticalsAllergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland and Davitt College, Castlebar: Fania Ellison tells us

what the Students, Principal and Company Coodinator say!

Skills @ Work

Allergan Pharmaceuticals Ireland started a new link this term with Davitt College, Castlebar. For the first session a group of

students were taken on a tour of the facility in Westport. They were introduced to employees as they went around and were able to ask them about their roles and daily activities. When I asked the students afterwards what they felt about the session they were extremely positive.

For the Day in the Life session six Allergan employees gave students invaluable first hand advice about approaching the world of work. Everyone then took part in a ‘speed dating’ exercise so that each student had a chance to speak to each presenter. The students were really delighted that one of the speakers was Aidan O’Shea, the Mayo footballer.

Bernie Rowland, Principal of Davitt College, said: “Establishing a rapport with employees from a local business gives great career exposure and opens the students’ eyes to what exactly is involved in various jobs or careers on a day to day basis. It allows them to explore what may be of interest to them and gives them a target to aim towards in terms of their education.”

David Nevin, School Coordinator said, “The students are finding the programme so worthwhile and enjoyable. To be shown around a huge company such as Allergan has really opened the pupils’ eyes to another side of work. The session with the employees from Allergan has motivated the pupils to do the best in their Leaving Cert and the fact that a local Mayo footballer spoke to the pupils also helped!”

Our pursuit. Life’s potential.™

“It was the best experience of my life”Student

“It was cool. The staff were nice”Student

“It was a good experience for life”Student

“I liked the information they gave at the talk”Student

Students from Davitt College during a session with Allergan’s Aidan O’Shea

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Time to Read The National Launch of Time to

Read

Time to Read was officially launched on December 4th in the National Library

by Minister Ruiari Quinn. It was a fantastic occasion attended by children, companies, schools and volunteers who have all been with us at various points on our Time to Read journey from the initial

research in 2010 to a fully-fledged National programme.It was great to hear the Minister’s endorsement of the programme and how he sees it fitting so perfectly into the country’s literacy agenda. He spoke of how much literacy has been part of Ireland’s history and how we need to nurture this culture for it to thrive. We were also very excited

Fania Ellison, Time to Read Programme Coordinator speaks about our newest programme

aspirations of her whole family. For me, personally, it was wonderful to see the programme being given national recognition and encouragement. So many people around the country have worked so hard over the last four years and to see many of them in the room, seeing

where we had got to, was great. Our next challenge is to spread the word: to get this fabulous programme into every company, school, village and town in Ireland! So please do anything you can to encourage friends, family and business associates to get involved!

to be announcing a three year partnership with the ESB who have pledged a significant amount of money to help fund the programme. Pat O’ Doherty MD, spoke about how pleased the company was to be making this commitment, how much he wanted his employees to

be involved, and in his belief in the importance of empowering children through literacy. Ann Stapleton, a parent of a child from St. Finians NS, who took part in the programme two years ago, spoke movingly about how the interaction with his volunteers had completely changed how Mark viewed his life and that she felt it had a profound effect on the

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Mentoring An eight year partnerhsip that’s just electric!

Kristin Quinn, ESB’s Corporate Responsibility Manager speaks about a unique partnership between the ESB and Rosmini Community School, Drumcondra

Rosmini Community School is a mixed school in Dublin. It caters for students from the Drumcondra, Phibsborough,

East Wall and Whitehall areas. It offers a full programme to Leaving Certificate level and has traditionally had a higher than average intake of students with special needs (particularly students with visual impairment).The ESB has worked with the school in each of the last eight years, first as part of the Skills @ Work programme where students are facilitated with mock interviews, CV preparation, career guidance and company site visits and more recently (in 2012 and 2013), through a mentoring programme aimed at supporting 5th and 6th years in completing their Leaving Certificate. We are now in our second mentoring programme and have identified ten staff members based in our Head Office who will partner with an individual fifth year student over the next two years, offering a range of supports in relation to exploring career and third level education options.In 2012 Philip McElwee, Career Guidance Teacher and Philomena Cherry, Principal approached the ESB and asked if we could support them in developing a school library.

Our support has allowed the school to develop a functional, fit for purpose library equipped with age and ability appropriate reading material and modern reading technologies (e-books etc.). Staff involved in various initiatives in the school always comment on how much they enjoy being involved in something different, and about the sense of fulfilment they get from making a positive difference in such an important area as education. The key to the success of our partnership with the school is in the strength of the relationships we have developed over time, they understand what we can offer and we have learned a lot about what the school needs, and about how to make sure that the resources we are committing achieve the maximum impact.

Students Cian Ryan and Thomas Hughes from Rosmini with Bernie O’Connor mentor from ESB

Niall Hogan, ESB mentor with Adam Moloney his mentee

ESB mentors and their mentees from Rosmini

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Read about two of our interesting Skills at Work links: Michael Devereux, School Coordinator in Enniscorthy VS talks about their link with Pettitt’s Supervalu and Diane Beckingham, SBP

Coordinator talks about Cobh CC and GE Healthcare.

Skills @ Work

We found participating in the Skills @ Work programme to be very beneficial. We are very

thankful to our local Pettitt’s Supervalu store in Enniscorthy being our link in The Schools’ Business Partnership Programme as they were most helpful and made it interesting with real experiences. During this programme we learned a lot of valuable information about the working world, how businesses are run, CV preparation and filling out job application forms correctly. We also gained priceless experience during our mock interviews being interviewed by the store managers of Pettitts Supervalu . The feedback given was very encouraging and highlighted our potential, strengths and weaknesses. Overall an excellent experience and should prove very rewarding for our L.C.V.P. Link Modules Portfolio.

CSI and ER came to Cobh when GE Healthcare facilitated a workshop for the Transition Year students of Cobh Community College. As part of the Skills @ Work programme, it was decided to try something a little different and have a bit of team building fun. GE Healthcare kindly provided the manpower and expertise to ‘direct the show,’ whilst Miss Geary, the TY teacher came up trumps with props and costumes, the opera house would have been proud of. The students came up with the rest! The group were split into two, and were each given a very loose brief to come up with a 5 minute drama based on CSI or ER. After a great amount of hilarity and imagination, each team enacted their scene in front of the whole group. The students threw themselves into the performance with gusto and were soon transformed into ‘actors and artistes’. It was clear to see all had great fun, with students commenting at the end “It makes you see that you shouldn’t be afraid to try things” “we made something out of nothing” “we learned that we could achieve so much more by working in a team, the more we put into it the more we got out.”

Pettitts Supervalu & Enniscorthy VS

GE Healthcare & Cobh CC

Enniscorthy VS students on a Site visit to Pettitts Supervalue where Cormac Pettitt, Angela Wall and the staff of Pettitts

Supervalue showed the teacher Fred Nathan and the students around the store.

Transition year students with props doing a five minute drama for GE Healthcare

Supervalu for Super Students & Drama in Cobh

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My name is Nadine Maher and I am a Sixth year student in St Dominic’s Secondary School, Ballyfermot. I am involved in the

Allianz mentoring programme. The mentoring program has really helped me a lot over the last year. My mentor has given me great advice in many areas but in particular preparing my CV, interview tips, study time tables and she has also helped me investigate many courses in many colleges in preparation for completing my CAO form. I really enjoy going to Allianz to have a conversation with my mentor. I would really advise anybody to take part in this programme because I believe that this support has assisted me become more confident.

Student!

Meet the...

I can still remember how hard it was to navigate my way through the secondary school years and I was always thankful for the guidance of my two older brothers who, although I didn’t realise it at the time, were my ‘unofficial’ mentors. For this reason, and because I am a former student of St.

Nessans, I really didn’t hesitate when I was asked to sign up for the Student Mentoring Programme. I was teamed up with Evan Kelly, a friendly and sports mad 5th year student. Sport was definitely our common ground from the beginning and it formed the basis for most of our early conversations but as we got to know each other better we got chatting about lots of different things, school, exams, work, families, etc. We stay in touch regularly and try to meet up every few weeks. Sometimes we do an activity, we have gone bowling, attended a Limerick FC game at Thomond Park with some of the other mentors & mentees and Evan has even played football with me and my work colleagues in our weekly game. Other times we just meet for a coffee and a chat.l have to admit that I’ve probably learned as much from Evan as he has from me and I feel better equipped now to deal with my own sons when they hit the teenage years! Overall it has been a very good experience for me personally and I hope that I’ve been of some help to Evan during these difficult years leading up to the Leaving Cert.

Mentor!

In this issue we meet mentor Barry Coleman from Limerick Institute of Technology and student Nadine Maher from St. Dominic’s Secondary School Ballyfermot.

Evan Kelly Student and his mentor Barry Coleman during one of their sessions

Nadine Maher and her class from St Dominic’s SS on a Site Visit to Allianz

St. Paul’s class from St Aidan’s attended a tour of Veolia, the Luas company. We learned a lot during our visit to Veolia, we learned how the tram works, how they work with the civil services of Dublin to prevent as much casualty as possible and we also learned how to drive and manage a Luas Tram.

We learned that if there is a fire near the Luas line, the company will shut down all the power from there to assist the fire brigade in the saving of lives in the fire and we learned they do this from the computers in the control room. While on our visit we visited the control rooms of the Luas. We were shown how they were able to cut off power to one line. We learned that there are two buttons, one that could be used to

shut off the entire Luas in a few seconds. In the control room we were able to see the cameras at the other Luas stops and we saw how the signal can travel anywhere within a few mili seconds! We also visited the trams and sat in the driver’s seat and saw the controls. We learned how to read the Luas controls and learned that a Luas can go up to 70 km/hr! We also travelled down by Luas to the Veolia HQ in the Red Cow by Luas. When we got there we got reflective jackets and then were split into groups and brought to the control room and to the trams.

From the main entrance you could see down to the men working on Luas engines! That was pretty cool. We met the Ticket inspectors, the ticket inspector manager and the driver and lots more! We learned a lot from speaking to them and asking them questions and it was really interesting too. We had our lunch there and when we were going, they put a message on the Luas saying ‘Hi St Aidan’s!’ It was cool. The most interesting thing that I learned was that there is over a 1000 volts of electricity but using a transformer they are able to limit that down to 700 volts, which is enough to power the Luas. Another thing that I thought was interesting was the engineers as they worked on the engines. Luas ticket inspectors get a lot of discrimination, and it is horrible. Everyone is a person and no one should be treated differently. Everyone deserves to be treated as you would like to be treated yourself, it doesn’t matter about race, martial status or gender!

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Learning Time on the Luas Line!Jenessa Scott a 5th year student from St Aidan’s Community School tells us about his experience

of visiting transport company Veolia...

Skills @ Work

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Healthy lunches for healthy futures

LINKS features

When you click on www.carambola.ie you engage with a vibrant, energetic, informative web site that is highly

reflective of this private company. Based in Annacotty in Limerick with over 70 staff, they make and deliver almost 100,0000 healthy school lunches to the students of Ireland EVERY WEEK. Their partnership with Crescent College Comprehensive is now in its second year and is equally vibrant and i n f o r m a t i v e . Colm O’Brien (founder and MD) and his staff inspire the students to identify areas that they would enjoy working in. O’Brien hopes that some will set up their own business s o m e d a y . The students love hearing about the decisions and conditions that affect the business world and how in particular for Colm, previous business ventures had failed where some succeeded. The students get an opportunity to meet all the staff of Carambola Kidz and a chance to work on the production line alongside them. Of course, being involved in healthy food lends itself to a very interesting optional session on Nutrition. All menu items for Carambola Kidz must be sanctioned by Rachel Mescall Fitzpatrick, Carambola’s Head of Nutrition, before being allowed on the menu which has been approved by senior HSE Dieticians and the Department of Social Protection. As a result of the excellent work Carambola has done over the last 10 years, they were

named IPPN ‘Preferred Supplier of School Lunches’ in January. In June they were invited to Brussels and named Ireland’s Best SME for Corporate Social Responsibility.“We are delighted with the awards,” says Colm “however, it is the work of Carambola Kidz Foundation that really excites us at this time. The CSR Award came on the back of work we have been doing in client schools since day one of

our formation. We support i n - s c h o o l projects such as libraries, garden work, iPad’s, etc. The list is as long and diverse as the schools t h e m s e l v e s . We are very privileged to be able to help. Our work with kids in Crescent C o l l e g e Comprehensive is fantastic as it stretches

us from the Primary school sector into second level. And we love it!”Nicky Cuddihy, Principal, said “We were all delighted to see our students involved in the Skills @ Work programme. Many of last year’s students have told me how much they enjoyed learning about setting up a business and the CV preparation. We are glad to be participating again this year and congratulate everyone involved.”Sounds like this healthy school partnership brings benefits to all involved!

Eleanor Walsh, SBP Programme Assistant Manager & Limerick Clare Regional Coordiantor writes about Carambola Kidz who are linked with Cresent College Comp Limerick

Tina Roche, CEO, BITCI; Tony Hanway, CEO, O2; Colm O’Brien Founder and MD Carambola Kidz at the BITCI CSR Europe

Awards 2013

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Mary Mulligan, Principal, St. Joseph’s SS talks about partership with Generali

Skills @ Work

Over the past number of years St. Joseph’s Mercy Secondary School in Navan has been linked with Generali. Generali

PanEurope Limited located in Navan, is part of the Generali Group, which was founded in Trieste, Italy, in 1831. Generali PanEurope is a provider of wealth management and employee benefit solutions. Generali PanEurope markets its products on a Freedom of Services basis and is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland to transact cross-border life assurance business in the European Union. The Business in the Community link with Generali has been a huge benefit to our students. We have seen their confidence, self-esteem and sense of responsibility grow. Generali have also given us much practical support. They help with interview techniques and CV preparation. When we evaluate the programme the students rate highest the visit ‘Out’ to Generali. The ‘Day in the Life’ session is particularly interesting. It is very encouraging for the students to see that Generali, when choosing employees, does not solely concentrate on academic ability and qualifications. Qualities like ability to show initiative and ability to

work in a team are among those that the firm values. Students also note that when employed it is possible to progress through the firm. The practical benefit of ‘The Skills @ Work Programme’ course also opens the students’ minds to the benefits of choosing Business as a career. Their preconceived ideas of a career in Business often changes.

As one of our 6th Year students, Caoimhe Boyle said in her presentation last June:“Before visiting Generali I was never interested in working in a business environment I thought it would be boring sitting behind a desk all day but from our visit I have definitely changed my view. I saw that there is always something new happening and new deadlines to meet. I completely changed my mind and am now applying for a Business course after my Leaving Cert.”

Student Caoimhe discussing Business Courses with Ms Cooney Guidance Counsellor

Generali inspire in Navan

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Company Coordinator and volunteersIn this issue we meet company coordinator Anne Sweeney, Learning & Development Generalist,

Fexco, Kerry and two volunteers from Thermo King, Galway

Meet the ...

FEXCO are delighted to be working with our local Killorglin Community College on the Schools’ Business Partnership. We have been involved in the programme since 2011, it has proven to be a very successful partnership and has helped build a great relationship with the school and its staff.FEXCO, as a local employer, is always interested in engaging with students to promote education while also communicating about the business we operate and how valuable we, as a local employer, are to the community”.I am delighted to be involved in the programme as it gives me an opportunity to raise the awareness of FEXCO with young people while also sharing expertise and knowledge, thereby encouraging and supporting them in their education.FEXCO recognises the need to deliver a corporate social responsibility agenda to ensure that we support our local community and potential talent pool for the future.

In this article Nuala Greenan, Galway Regional Coordinator recounts the visit by Archbishop McHale College, Tuam to Thermo King’s manufacturing plant in Mervue in Galway city as part of the Skills @ Work programme in the school year 2013-2014As one of Ingersoll Rand’s 100 manufacturing facilities world-wide, Thermo King is a real Irish success story. Decked out in personal protective equipment the students got up close to the production line where operators have 7.2 minutes to complete work at their station before the line (quite literally) moves on to the next person. Later they heard inspirational stories of working life. Tom O’Halloran, worked in accounts and as a stone mason before joining Thermo King as an operative in 1995, now he trains new staff. “The people make the job for me” said Tom. Students also heard how manufacturing engineers are challenged to deliver 2 continuous improvements every week using the Kaizen method for the rapid implementation of small changes, typically over a 3 day period.“Just like Thermo King you need to be always learning and improving yourselves. The Leaving Cert is the first step for you,’’said Alan Murphy, HR Manager, Thermo King, Galway.

Fexco & Killorglin CC

Thermo King & Archbishop McHale

The Schools’ Business PartnershipBusiness in the Community Ireland

32 Lower O’ Connell Street | Dublin 101 8743809 | www.bitc.ie/schools-business-partnership

The Schools’ Business PartnershipAdding value to the Department of Children & Youth Affairs and the School Completion Programme, the Schools’ Business Partnership aims to positively impact on educational inclusion and address key issues in areas of educational inclusion in Ireland. The programme does this by matching one school with a large local business and engaging in various programmes. The total number of schools which have been matched nationally is 191. Through the Schools’ Business Partnership a menu of programmes has been developed to address key educational issues for these schools across the country. Marks & Spencer Ireland have been the lead

sponsor of the SBP since its inception - a remarkable commitment.

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