The goal of the internship abroad was adapted to the individual needs of each student. Language and intercultural preparation was an integral part of the exchange. The exchange had a positive effect on students' self-confidence, which is important when looking for a job. The participants gained the experience of working in an international environment, which influenced the awareness that they are responsible for their own decisions and better understand that success at work depends on themselves. The main goal of the project was to enable the practical experience of students with special needs and to improve their employability, as they often face more problems when entering labour market. The acquired competences and experience of staff who participated in the project empowered us to be able to organize quality mobility projects for students and staff in VET in the future. We want to obtain the Erasmus+ Charter for mobility in vocational education and training. We wanted to expand the network of cooperation with institutions for special needs in the EU and develop more permanent cooperation. We wanted to enable the exchange of a larger number of students and employees and to improve the quality of the preparation and implementation of student training. Fort his purpose, we used ECVET tools in the process before, during, and after the training, so that we could think more easily about learning outcomes with our partners and how to achieve them. Thus, the training abroad was more transparently composed of activities that were supposed to increase the student's skills and their chances of employment, as we want to make the transition of young people to the labour market easier. We succeeded in evaluating the mobility process in order to implement the necessary improvements in the next exchanges. We want to identify obstacles, and spread examples of good practices in the local and regional environment. We will participate in new national projects. We got to know new learning environments which are also interesting for our institution. We will use the acquired competences and experience in the field of project management in the planning and implementation of new projects. Participating students will be more competitive in the labour market. We will plan new mobility projects for both students and staff. Their knowledge of foreign languages improved and their motivation to learn them increased.
'Nova obzorja' is a project that enabled physically disabled students and students with other special needs to do their internship abroad and promotes equal opportunities for all. They did their internship in Finland in cooperation with the Luovi Vocational College, which is the largest vocational organization for students with special needs in Finland, and which has been our partner since 2005. Luovi already successfully sends students to CIRIUS for work practice in Slovenia. We wanted student exchanges to be reciprocal. We used ECVET tools to establish a quality partnership, successfully prepare and carry out student training abroad, assess and evaluate their progress. Encouraging student exchanges is one of the priorities when planning international activities at CIRIUS Kamnik, the quality of which we want to improve, which is why we also participated in the project Erasmus+, KA2, strategic partnerships, 'Peer Review – More Impact, Excellent Results', which was led by Luovi. The goal of the project was to improve international activities in the participating schools in Europe in general. CIRIUS also wants improvements in the field of international project management, so we developed a strategy for internationalization. In 2017 we visited the Luovi institution to learn about examples of good practices in integrating students into the local and wider community and how to better cooperate with employers. CIRIUS Kamnik provides high-quality education and training for students with special needs so that they can achieve an appropriate level of professional education to integrate successfully into the world of work and society. By doing their internship abroad, the students gained new skills, knowledge and competences that they will need when entering the labour market. They also acquired intercultural competences. The staff of CIRIUS Kamnik, who accompanied the students on-the-job learning, gained new professional and language skills and improved their intercultural competences. The teachers who took part in two study visits, one in Finland, and one in Estonia also acquired new experience, competences, and knowledge. The application was mainly aimed at student exchange, but we had to change our plans due to the coronavirus epidemic.