Updates from Dublin Partnerships
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…
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!
Off to a bounding start!
Miriam Kenny, SBP coordinator, fills us in on the mentoring programme with Yahoo and Ardscoil La Salle, Raheny, Dublin
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:
‘’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.”
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:
“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”
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!
An eight year partnership 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.
Meet the student!
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.
