European internships in laboratory and sales
Start date: Jun 1, 2016,
End date: May 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
Having experienced three previous mobility projects with ten pupils in their last year of High School who did their internship in Irish and English companies, we would like to develop our internationalisation strategy and renew this experience with 10 other students. In 2013 and 2014, this project only concerned students in the field of Laboratory control quality. Since 2015, we have opened it to pupils studying in the sales department. The pupils from our school volunteer to go and achieve their traineeship abroad and the teaching staff select them according to specific criteria. Since 2010, we have started a European section in our training so that pupils have technical lessons in English as well as English language courses. Providing them with internships in an English speaking country makes sense with regard to those lectures and the choices we have made to open our school to European mobility. The short-term objectives for our pupils are to develop their capacity to adjust themselves to new working conditions, to extend their autonomy and their knowledge of Anglo-Saxon culture. The long-term objectives are to facilitate their occupational integration and improve their employability or to allow them to enroll in higher education in a foreign English speaking country. Our pupils often had a bad start when they first arrived in our school. They have chosen the vocational path because the training includes internships which introduce them to the world of work. Those internships motivate them and help them pull themselves together again and enable them to increase their interests in their studies. As for our pupils studying to become laboratory technicians, they can do their internship in any kind of laboratories, ranging from analytical environmental laboratories such as soil or water testing laboratories to food control laboratories. Those internships give them the opportunity to discover other procedures and equipment or to diversify their work experience because in France they most often do their internship in food industry laboratories, medical or cosmetic laboratories. As for our pupils studying to become salespersons, they can do their internship in retail outlets or supermarkets. The students will become accustomed to the retailing and distribution industry, the different kinds of outlets and health rules for food products and quality labels. For all of them, this English immersion will increase their fluency and will enhance their résumé. There is also a strong cultural objective since those students are going to permeate the daily life of Anglo-Saxon people and visit historical sites that they will have learned about beforehand. The mobility will last eight weeks from October 3rd to November 25th 2016 for eight students in laboratory control quality and four weeks, from October 3rd to October 28th for two students in sales.Mobilities are very expensive, especially towards the United Kingdom, thus we need several sources of funding besides the Erasmus grants awarded by the European Union which represents the main one of course. In order not to penalise poorer pupils, we are advocating to obtain some financial help from the General Education and Research Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Townhall, the school's partners. Nonetheless, we still do ask a financial contribution from the pupil's parents by way of commitment.
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