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Dolan Hotels is extending its educational outreach programme to include Highlands College in 2014.
Dolan Hotels is extending its educational outreach programme to include Highlands College in 2014.
In October, Dolan launched an on-going educational partnership directly linking its hotels and restaurants with the four states funded secondary schools in Jersey. The initiative was set up to support the school curriculum with hands-on experience and to encourage Dolan staff to share their knowledge and skills in the fields of hospitality, catering and business management.
Students from Years 10 and 11 at Le Rocquier, Les Quennevais, Grainville and Haute Vallee paired up with each of Dolan’s four hotels and restaurants to receive tailored advice and practical exposure to functions of the hospitality industry.
Following the programme’s initial success, Highlands College approached Dolan, to find out if the chain could offer work placements for students studying Travel and Tourism and Business courses. Since then, Dolan has extended its commitment to the college and is offering ongoing support, in addition to the placements initially requested.
Andrew Shrimpton, director of Dolan Hotels, said: ‘The initial feedback that we have received from the schools taking part in our education support programme has been really encouraging. It was great to see so much enthusiasm for the scheme and we’re delighted that we’ve now been able to extend this to Highlands College.’
Lisa de Gruchy, Curriculum Manager of Business at Highlands College commented: ‘This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our students. A partnership with such a successful, local business like the Dolan Group offers our students from both the Business and Travel & Tourism subject areas the opportunity to place their theoretical learning into practice and observe and experience life in a real organisation. The expertise of the business professionals at Dolan will be invaluable to the students and we are very grateful to their team for their generosity of time and commitment to developing our local learners.’
The Business students from Highlands have been invited to attend work placements in the accounts and marketing teams at Dolan’s headquarters. Travel and Tourism students will also be paired up with one of Dolan’s hotel properties, where they will be taking part in front of house duties, reservations and other customer facing roles.
Dolan and Highlands will also work together with the students to offer additional support to placements including educational events and workshops. These extra activities are currently being discussed and planned for later in 2014.
Dolan Hotels, which is owned and managed locally, is Jersey’s only four-star hotel group, with all three hotel properties holding four JQA stars. Each of the Dolan hotels boasts a top quality restaurant, each of which has been awarded a Gold Highly Commended Taste Accreditation by Quality in Tourism.
