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Graafschap college is going abroad 7
Start date: Jul 1, 2014, End date: Jun 30, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Context/background of the project For this call, we applied for a grant for 97 students and 13 employees. The amount granted was lower than we applied for. Nevertheless 122 students and employees went abroad for an internship and/or training. Fifteen employees and 107 students. These employees and students work in the different Graafschap College divisions; Technics, Health, Economics and Services. Number and type/profile of participants The students who applied are enrolled in the following teams: sports, tourism, nursing, I&A, vehicle engineering, commercial services, secretary, educational employee, international trade and financial occupations. A MIJN SCHOOL group - a group of 5 students with specific requirements - visited a school in Madeira together with a team leader. It was a unique experience for them and the focus was to start a sustainable cooperation with the school in Madeira. Description of undertaken activities Graafschap College has a tight schedule for planning internships abroad. Students are already asked in their first year if they are interested in an international internship. In their second year they enrol with the coordinators. Students are then included in a call. Every student must meet certain criteria. These criteria are listed in documents. Of course there are differences between departments and teams, but fixed criteria are: sufficient self-supportive, positive assessment of previous internships, behaviour and attitude in classroom situation, and if possible sufficient knowledge of the foreign language. A student’s teachers decide whether a student is sent abroad. Results and impact attained Students’ evaluations (participant reports, obligatory presentations and traineeship reports) show their knowledge of foreign languages has increased, as well as their self-reliance. Their cultural sensitivity has also increase. In general one can state that these students have become internationally competent. Fifteen employees have one abroad in this call. Five of them enrolled in a program on Malta for international employees. This has resulted in a module ‘internationalisation and the EU’. This module is already used in two educational programs. Besides, they are true international ambassadors in the teams they operate in. A foreign internship has at any rate had a positive effect on broadening international activities within Graafschap College. The support of teachers as well as management and the Board, has increased. Within this call, two employees did an internship at the European Parliament. This has directly resulted in a planned student visit to the EP next year. All employee are expected to present their experience to their team and/or students. Internationalisation is increasingly embedded in our organisation in this way. Several students have been offered a job abroad. See Appendix 2: Learning outcomes. Longer –term benefits: Graafschap College has intensified its ambitions in the field of education in an international context in its new strategic policy 2015-2020. With this in mind, a new framework document will soon be adopted by the Board and its senior managers. In this policy document, Graafschap College ambitions are put into national and international developments’ perspective. After, these will be translated into feasible objectives within those same strategic ambitions. It is an explicit policy objective to support all activities and plans from and within the departments, and to focus on the organisation goals as a whole, but also on the demands of financing institutions such as Erasmus+ and Euregio. All companies involved in international internships must be accredited. All students who go abroad with an Erasmus+ grant fill out the Europass. A Learning agreement is completed by each and every student. Graafschap College gives all students who successfully travelled abroad, a separate Erasmus+ certificate at their graduation
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