Quinn Extends Local Education Support with Launch of New 5 Year Business Insights Partnership
Quinn Industrial Holdings has continued its commitment to local education by launching a new Business Insights Partnership with St. Aidan’s High School in Derrylin. The five-year partnership involves a significant financial and resource investment from Quinn to deliver a range of initiatives designed to support the school in delivering its Key Stage 4 Business Studies course. The Programme will give practical insight to students around aspects of starting, growing, working in and controlling a business, giving a deeper understanding of course content and helping inform future career decisions.
This educational initiative from Quinn follows a range of successful partnerships in recent years, including their award-winning educational partnership Programme with St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen.
A number of politicians, including First Minister Arlene Foster, Education Minister, Peter Weir and local MP Michelle Gildernew, were joined by CCMS Chief Executive, Gerry Campbell, school Governors, staff and pupils, and Quinn representatives to launch of the new partnership at St. Aidan’s on Friday 6th March.
Quinn CEO, Liam McCaffrey, spoke of the company’s commitment to supporting local education through strong partnerships, saying,
“We have been working successfully with St. Aidan’s for some time now through sponsorship of prize night and other initiatives, but this new partnership is part of a much wider and ambitious educational engagement programme that is an important part of our overall Corporate Social Responsibility programme. In addition to our schools’ programmes, our Apprenticeship, Graduate, Post-Graduate KTP and supported Chartership programmes for internal staff, have demonstrated the huge benefits of life-long learning and continuing education to our business and the local economy. We are delighted that St. Aidan’s have come on-board with us and we are committed to working with them to developing sustainable, early-stage careers-paths for our future leaders”.
St. Aidan’s Principal, Pat McTeggart, also spoke about the new initiative and how it will benefit the school, commenting,
“We are delighted to formalise our partnership with Quinn. This promises to be an exciting adventure which will be hugely beneficial to the students and the staff here at the school. Sometimes the delivery of new business concepts in a classroom environment can lack the necessary practical and real-life references and examples that are necessary for students to gain a proper understanding of the topic. Working closely with a wide range of people from all disciplines in Quinn, combined with site visits, has brought the whole subject to life and we are extremely lucky to have this opportunity on our doorstep.”
The partnership with St. Aidan’s includes the following elements over five-year period:
- Creation of a series of business insight opportunities which will facilitate teacher and student access to in-depth Quinn business knowledge, techniques and personnel at various levels in the business
- Quinn will host 4 focused site visits annually aligned with the curriculum study schedule which will allow students to understand the practical implications of the study material
- Discussion forums and case-study sessions, facilitated by Quinn personnel, on set topics will be scheduled each term to encourage interaction, real-life experience sharing and practical understanding of more complex topics
- Sharing of real case-example information and written material on specific business topics aligned to modules within the studied curriculum
- Assisting the school in the development of industry-specific accredited courses in areas such as Sustainability, Health & Safety and Construction
- Sponsorship of the Business department at the school and creation of a Business Insights Hub as a place for students to engage with material and case-examples in a practical way
- Supervised access tours of all Quinn facilities plus dedicated mentorship from the Quinn staff on specific topics
- Free access for students and staff to accredited CPD modules delivered by Quinn at its Innovation Academy.
This is an important new offering to local GCSE students, and the scope and detail of this partnership is the type of collaboration that is recognised as best practice between schools and private industry. In an environment of constrained education budgets, it helps schools to continue to access infrastructure and resources in a way that would not otherwise be available. The opportunity to share resources and allow staff of Quinn and St. Aidan’s to share in professional development opportunities is an exciting development that enhances our education framework in the County.