Godolphin Providing Guidance and Support to Midlands Youth

Friday, February 7th, 2020

Godolphin’s Irish base partners with three local secondary schools for the Skills @ Work programme; St. Paul’s S.S., Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, Ardscoil Rath Iomgháin, Rathangan, Co. Kildare and Scoil Ruain, Killenaule, Co. Tipperary. They also partner with St. Paul’s S.S., Monasterevin on the Student Mentoring Programme. We asked Ciara Devitt, Education Initiatives Manager at Godolphin Ireland and Skills @ Work and Mentoring Company Coordinator for her thoughts on their partnership. Mary Mullally, Deputy Principal of St. Paul’s S.S. also provided her insight on the success of the partnership from the school perspective.

The Skills @ Work programme provides post primary school students with a unique insight into the world of work. Volunteer employees from participating companies partner an entire class to share their skills and career advice. The Student Mentoring programme, partners schools with a local business which provides mentors to a number of students in 5th and 6th year.

Ciara Devitt, Education Initiatives Manager, Godolphin.

 What is your favourite part of the Skills @ Work programme?

“I really enjoy delivering the ‘CV Preparation and Interview Skills’ workshops but I think my favourite parts are the Site Visits and ‘Day in the Life’ speed networking sessions. The experiential nature of these sessions opens up a whole new world to visiting students and it’s wonderful to see them embrace this chance to learn about our industry and workplace. These onsite elements of Skills @ Work also proved a valuable opportunity for Godolphin Ireland employees to interact with young people from the local community. This element of the programme had a very positive impact on our employees’ personal and professional development and was a real ‘win-win’ for all involved.”

What benefits do you see for the employees who take part?

“Godolphin Ireland employees really benefited from the company’s involvement with BITC Skills @ Work and the feedback we received was universally positive. The most common feedback was that employees enjoyed ‘giving something back’ to the local community and being able to ‘make a difference in a young person’s life’. We also found that the opportunity to participate and share their experience and knowledge improved employees’ overall motivation and job satisfaction which was an unexpected but welcome benefit of the programme.”

If you could tell all the students in the programme one thing what would it be?

“The advice I would give is that life does not follow a linear path. Setbacks are to be expected and progress may not be as rapid as they anticipate but with hard work, persistence and a little bit of luck they will get to where they are meant to be in the end.”

Mary Mullally, Deputy Principal St. Paul’s S.S., Monasterevin, Co. Kildare.

What is your favourite part of the Mentoring programme?

“My favourite part of the Mentoring programme is that the students get the opportunity to meet and work with an adult in the business community, providing advice and support and sharing their experiences. This reinforces all the advice and support they get in school and gives them the confidence to pursue their goals and realise their full potential.”

What benefits do you see for the students who take part?

“The students benefit from having that extra adult in their lives to provide advice, support, and practical experience and to take a special interest in them and their goals.”

If you could tell all the students in the programme one thing what would it be?

“The one thing that I would tell students in the programme is to be open to accepting advice and help from your Mentor as they have the benefit of life experience and experience of the working world and have learned valuable lessons along the way.”