CEO OF NESTLÉ FOR A DAY!
12 Richmond School students from Year 10 were recently invited to take part in Project Dare, led by Nestlé, to gain experience of a workplace. The sessions were focused on the production of chocolate at the York Nestlé factory, with a team challenge looking at the cocoa beans’ journey from farm to fork.
On the first trip, students were invited to York St John University to meet the employees of Nestlé, learn about the company and have a tour of the university campus. This involved looking at the history of Nestlé, its celebrity ambassadors and the brands they own such as Nesquik, San Pelligrino, Dolce Gusto and Buxton to name a few. Importantly, students managed to grab some freebies before they left!
The following week our students visited the Nestlé KitKat factory in York to be a ‘CEO for a day’. The students were split into groups and were presented with a challenge based around the production of a KitKat. Each member of the group was given a role: CEO, Head of Communications, Head of Finance and Head of Sustainability. They came together as teams to solve the challenge which was then presented to employees and peers in a board-style meeting. After their pitch, the students were taken on a tour of the KitKat production line. 4.5 million bars are made every day! All students were gifted with handfuls of KitKats to take home to make the experience even more memorable. Miss Pemberton and Miss Hamer are hoping to go again next year!
The employees of Nestlé left our students some fantastic feedback and it was great to let them see the bigger picture of the world of work and what is involved in a successful, global company. Students have also written their own article to be published in the Nestlé Newsletter that is read by an average of 8000 employees! There will be a link to follow once it is published.
Below are two quotes from members of the Nestlé team who worked with our students over the two days:
“I really enjoyed most how much the kids enjoyed coming to the factory and how engaged they were. They also presented super well.”
“The students surprised me! I have never attended a school event like this before, however
I have been told by other colleagues that sometimes there can be misbehaviour or lack of
engagement. However, I can honestly say it was an amazing group of students who were
patient, engaged and kind. Thank you for the experience.”
Thank you to Miss Pemberton and Miss Hamer for organising the trip and kudos to our students for engaging so positively with the experience.