Our most important objectives were to strengthen the students choice-skills (on the labor market or in their educational career), to increase their courage to speak in a foreign language, to teach them about European citizenship and to provide opportunities in which they could practice the basic skills and competencies that were thaught on a daily basis at school in a stimulating professional environment. We also wanted our students to excel in the necessary soft skills in addition to more specific competencies and skills related to their field of study. In terms of inclusion, the intention was to offer ALL students in those classes the opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ project (of a mandatory nature). Through Erasmus internships, we wanted to increase the attractiveness of the vocational and technical fields involved (school marketing) and to stimulate POSITIVE course choice motivations. The project also aimed at bringing teachers up-to-date with the latest developments in their sector and at giving them the opportunity to get an idea of the current labour market and to expand their own network.
With this project, we intended to upgrade the relevant vocational and technical courses within our school, because too many students attended classes, having a negative self-image and being demotivated to learn. Their progress in learning foreign languages was substandard. Too many students grew up in insufficiently stimulating and socially weak households and were miles away from an open (European) view and citizenship. In addition, our students developed too little choice-skills (insufficient maturity) when looking for an exciting job and working environment or a course of study in higher education. Within our region (Meetjesland), we were facing a shortage of sufficient high-quality internships to challenge and motivate our students. Moreover, within College ten Doorn (non-profit organization to which Sint-Anna belongs), we were facing an image problem, which meant that the risk of too many students ending up in the "waterfall system" had to be countered. Teachers also needed further professional development to keep up with the rapidly changing sectors characterized by new trends and innovations.