The School&Work project aims at the prevention of early school leaving (ESL) making reference to the results of previous projects already successfully carried out by most of this project partners. The project will build on the experiences and results of existing projects, introducing an element of innovation based on the creation of a synergy between schools and world of work. The aim will be to motivate students to stay at school thanks to the feedbacks and support coming from the labour market. The feedbacks received from the world of work will make students at risk of dropping out aware of the full relevance of the skills acquired at schools for their future employability. The strategy implemented in this project will be based on improving the professional profile of teachers and counsellors providing them with the skills and tools to: - Offer a personalized guidance to each individual students, supporting the development of an individual educational path in line with their personal aptitudes and ability, hence, supporting their motivation to study. - Foster equity and inclusion in education as the personalized guidance services will be provided, in particular, for the weaker students, i.e. those having educational difficulties, students with economic and social obstacles, immigrant students. - Reinforce links between education and the world of work, making school students aware of which are the requirements and expectations of the labour market, underling how education provided at school will equip them with the skills to successfully access the labour market. - Promote the development of an entrepreneurial spirit in students setting up for them effective links with innovative services that make it possible to carry out entrepreneurial projects at schools that can get funded through Crowdfunding platforms for education. The project will therefore strengthen the capacity of school counselors and teachers, to cooperate with representatives from the labour market, so as to guide and support students from the beginning of their secondary school pathway. The project will be organized in three main activities: 1) Creation two tool-kits for school counselors and teachers. The first one will help them to analyse and understand individual personal skills, interests and aptitudes of students and then to design and implement personalised guidance services to motivate students at risk of early school leaving to complete their studies and acquire the skills requested by the job market. The second one will help them to be aware of which are the job profiles required by the labour market and which are the necessary skills to fulfill them. Also, this second toolkit, will provide them with the skills to enhance the individual student’s entrepreneurial spirit. 2) Creation of the E-learning package that will guide teachers and counselors in using the Toolkits created in order to deal with students at risk of early school leaving and motivate them to continue and complete their education. The e-learning package will be organized in 6 main modules. The first and second one on how to understand students’ personal aptitudes so as to identify personalized their educational path that will enhance their motivation. The third one on the professional profiles searched by the labour market so as to raise students’ awareness of the importance of completing their school education to be prepared for the labour market. The fourth one on how to implement entrepreneurial initiatives at school so as to motivate students to transform their ideas into real projects in the school environment. The fifth module will focus on transnational mobility opportunities for school students that can also foster their motivation. The sixth one will focus on how to develop and implement effective guidance, counselling and support services for students in their early years of secondary education (i.e. for students aged 15-17 when they are most at risk of ESL). 3) Creation of Video gallery of Testimonials collecting interviews with successful entrepreneurs, successful employees and successful people to be used as reference with students to highlight the importance of completing school education for being successful at work and in life. Each of the testimonials collected will explain in a very direct, honest way, based on their personal history, that school education is very important and will encourage students to stay at school and complete their education.
Context European educational systems are facing a common issue: the persistent high rate of youngsters leaving school before having achieved a certification that helps them to be competitive on the labor market. Study and job orientation counseling service provided by school counsellors and teachers can play an important role in motivating students to complete their education. Objectives The School&Work project aims at the prevention of early school leaving by creating a synergy between schools and the world of work. The aim is to involve the labour market in supporting students’ motivation to stay at school and fostering their entrepreneurial spirit. Participating organisations The School&Work project involved: • 7 contractual partners including training agencies, schools, universities, school consortium and associations • 37 schools (mainly vocational) • More than 100 teachers of all subjects • Around 40 school counsellors • Around 4.000 students including 1.300 with fewer opportunities • 41 associated partners including associations, education centers, business associations, public authorities, universities Activities and Results The project’s main activities and related results and impact are: Activity 1) Creation of the Transnational network of schools The project partners involved as its target groups 37 schools, 103 teachers, 37 counsellors, 3.754 students (including 1.295 students with fewer opportunities). The target groups, teachers, counsellors and students, were directly involved in the carrying out of the project activities. The School & Work project had a relevant impact on the needs as it produced tools and methodologies to prevent early school leaving and motivate students to study and not abandon school, through personalised guidance and job orientation services. Activity 2) Production of the Toolkit “Identification of Students’ Potential” The project partners developed a toolkit addressed to teachers and counsellors focusing on understanding students aptitudes and skills. The toolkit is structured in 3 areas: - Unveil students’ potential: giving access to 33 reviewed tests to be used by teachers and counsellors with students to identify their aptitudes. - Skills assessment: giving access to 32 reviews of tests to be used by teachers and counsellors with students to assess their skills. - Interactive wizard tests: giving access to 13 interactive tests aiming at supporting teachers and counsellors during the orientation of the students Activity 3) Job market analysis The project partners carried out a comparative analysis of the job market in order to provide schools with a better understanding of the needs of the enterprises. This activity resulted in 3 different tools: - European Job Profiles: describing the 10 most requested job profiles in each partner country - Necessary skills: providing an online tool for students to identify which job profiles are potentially more suitable for them, depending on their knowledge, skills and competencies. - Entrepreneurial spirit: giving access to a collection of 29 online courses and 23 reviews of crowdfunding platforms aiming at enhancing the entrepreneurial spirit of the students Activity 4) Development of Video Gallery of Testimonials The project partners cooperatively developed a video gallery organised in 3 sections: - Interviews with successful entrepreneurs - Interviews with successful employees - Interviews with successful people The collection of videos underlines, through the interviews, the importance of completing education for being successful in the labour market. Activity 5) E-learning Package The project partners jointly developed an e-learning package supporting teachers in dealing with students at risk of early school leaving. The modules contain articles, surveys, video interviews, lectures, career development plans, best practices for teachers and counsellors, psychologists and other specialists. The Training section is organised in six modules: - Understanding Pupils - Capitalise on pupils interests and skills - World of work - Innovative Entrepreneurial Experiences at School - Mobility to Learn and Work - Guidance, Counselling and Support Services Activity 6) School&Work portal Project partners cooperated to develop the project portal (http://schoolandwork.pixel-online.org/index.php), where all the products produced are available for the target groups. The project portal contains also a Project Management section which is entirely devoted to support the partners during the project implementation. Impact As far as the impact of the project is concerned, the School & Work project provided: - The students with personalised guidance, job orientation services, relevant testimonials to motivate them to continue their education - The teachers and counsellors with an e-learning package, tests for identifying their students potential as well as transnational networking opportunity.