PRESS RELEASE

St. Kilians School visit SmartPly Factory in Waterford.

On Thursday 21^st February, Leaving Certerificate students from St. Kilians School in Bray visited Coillte’s SmartPly factory in Waterford.  Coillte partnered with St. Kilian’s Community School in 2005 as part of the School’s Business Partnership which is run by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI).    The programme aims to give the students an insight into the world of work, giving them a first hand insight into the diversity of employment roles within a company.  This visit allowed the students to see  the production side of the forestry business at SmartPly’s 350,000 cubic metre capacity plant which is owned by Coillte.  

Michael Sheridan,  Principle from St. Kilian’s School said that “Participation in the Business in the Community programme has proved a valuable experience for our students and gives them an insight into the variety of careers available in different industries”.

Grainne Hogan, PR Executive from Coillte said “The students from St. Kilian’s have been taken through the variety of careers in forestry.  This programme has helped hundreds of students nationally to value their schooling more, develop social skills and consider career options they might otherwise overlook.  We are delighted to be a part of such a programme”.

Business in the Community Ireland is a business-driven, not-for-profit membership network that promotes corporate social responsibility (CSR) by companies in Ireland. Breda O’Sullivan, Regional Coordinator for  BITCI said “ BITCI recognises the leadership shown by Coilltein partnering St. Kilian’s Community School and providing a very innovative and interesting programme for the students”

For further information contact:
Gráinne Hogan,
Coillte
Tel: 353 1 201 1178 / 086 8213147

Note To Editors
The Schools Business Partnership was set up in 2001 and is managed by Business in the Community Ireland, a business-led network committed to corporate responsibility practices and community involvement.  Linked schools and companies engage in one or more Schools Business Partnership Modules depending on the resources of the company and the needs of the school and its students. 

This programme gives students an insight into life after school using employee presentations. This is an opportunity to give students a first hand insight into the diversity of employment roles within a company. For employees this provides an opportunity to enhance and develop presentation skills and recognition of the contribution of different staff roles within the company. This also presents companies with an opportunity to recruit strategically into the company through partnership with a local school. The programme provides site visits, ‘A Day in the Life' talks, CV workshops, mock interviews, company overviews and interview skill techniques.

About Coillte

Coillte is a commercial company operating in forestry, land based businesses, renewable energy and panel products.   Coillte Panel Products comprises both SmartPly Europe Ltd and Medite Europe Ltd.

Coillte employs approx 1,200 people and was established in 1988. It owns over 445,000 hectares of land, about 7% of the land cover of Ireland.

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