-
Home
-
European Projects
-
European Mobility: Building my Future
European Mobility: Building my Future
Start date: Jun 1, 2015,
End date: May 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
Since the beginning of the school year 2014, our vocational school has begun different actions to be officially recognized as a European High School and to get the Education Authority Labelling. These actions are part of a larger European opening and are an answer to the demands of the County Education Authority and of the National Education Authority. For both of them, international opening is a priority. These actions must enable all students from our High School to benefit from a mobility abroad during their scholarship.That’s why we have committed ourselves, along with our partner in Dublin, the CEI, to set vocational training periods abroad. They will last four weeks and will follow a two- week language training course in the morning and their work training session in the afternoon.We have noticed that our pupils had huge difficulties to fit into the labour market so they had a tendency to leave their formation without passing their exams. They were few as well to follow their studies in a two- year course to get a BTS (technical exam, level 3). This problem of employability can be explained in part by their low level in foreign languages skills in a region where we can meet many foreign tourists. Moreover, our students have difficulties to see the relevance of their formation (not always chosen) to the labour market. They are not really able as well to imagine themselves as future active citizens because of their lack of maturity and open-mindedness.To offer a mobility corresponding to their needs and to the reference programme, a working group supported by the headmaster has been set up. The team is composed of the “Chef des travaux” (person in charge of the relationships with firms), the coordinator of the European and International Actions, the administrator, 3 teachers of general education and 4 teachers of vocational education of the 4 departments concerned.At first, the group had to identify the aims of the mobility and secondly to find a partner fitting our schedule of conditions: to find work placement places for the training periods according to the reference programme of the 4 Departments concerned (Trade, Selling Techniques ,Customer Service and Administrative Management) as well as to provide a language training. We turned to the CEI Dublin because one of the teachers coordinating European and International action ( met in an Education Council meeting about European actions) told us he had successfully achieved a students’ mobility with them.After phone calls and internet mails, a partnership agreement stating the role of each one, could be made between the school and the CEI. A three-day preparatory visit is also planned to organise the mobility more precisely (suitability of the work palcements, accomodation and assessment schedule for teachers...).In order to prepare our students efficiently to this mobility, some vocational training courses partly in English have been set up and some personalized teaching about everyday life, business life and cultural differences have been planned. Participants will also get a deepening in foreign language thanks to the platform set by the European Commission. The list of the 20 most deserving students will be ratified by the educational community during the last class council of the schoolyear. Students being at risk of early school leaving or having school or social problems will be retained according to the efforts made in the fields identified in the performance agreement written at the end of the selection interviews. The European funding, the regional subsidies and the actions led by the students of the different departments will grant at least 50% of state grant holders a training placement.So a group of 20 students will benefit from this vocational training mobility each year in order to develop the necessary skills to get their Vocational A-Level.They will be accompanied by some teachers to meet their family thanks to whom they will get a real linguistic immersion. Vocational teachers will make the work placement assessment at the end of the period according to the National Education reference guide and the EREIVET assessment sheets. Assessment meetings will take place along with our partner so as to make the training evolve in a fulfilling way.Some interviews taken before their leaving and after their return will help checking the efficiency of the mobility in the linguistic, professional and social skills. Moreover, the High School commits itself to helping students in valuing their experience through some certificates like Europass mobility and in promoting their skills and experience especially among the local businesses. The impact of the project will be assessed thanks to the cohort follow-up.