The objectives of the project were to: - Deepen participants’ knowledge of their vocational subject within a European context and within a different working environment; - Encourage participants to consider employment opportunities in Europe within their chosen field; - Enhance participants’ professional profiles and their CVs by providing evidence of having acquired additional professional skills during their time overseas; - Enable the sending and receiving organisations to develop and strengthen their partnerships with their European counterparts across a range of curriculum areas; - Support the comparability and transportability of vocational qualifications.
The rationale for carrying out this project was to improve on the following areas: 1. The number of vocational learners and/or apprentices taking part in EU mobility; 2. The key competences and skills of vocational learners and/or apprentices; 3. Cooperation with existing, and the development of new, VET partnerships across Europe. From past projects, we knew that these opportunities built confidence, enhanced technical and soft skills and improved the employability skills of the participants. Past opportunities also developed friendships and networks, as well as gave learners opportunities to learn new languages and enjoy different cultural experiences. We wanted to keep providing these opportunities to vocational learners in Wales. There were 12 consortium members in the project and they were all FE colleges in Wales. The lead applicant was CollegesWales, which is the national representative for all Further Education (FE) colleges in Wales and is in a prime position to increase the level of international activity in the FE sector in Wales. All of the consortium members operate in areas of multiple deprivation within their locality, so this project enabled participants from all socio-economic sectors to undertake short term (2-week) work placements/vocational training in Europe, including participants who would not have been able to take part without this funding. There were 50 EU partners involved in the project, who provided support to the consortium members in Wales to organise work and training periods in Europe for the participants. For CollegesWales, applying for this funding on behalf of the FE sector in Wales was important in order to provide equal access to all VET learners to opportunities abroad, as well as ensuring that there is an added European dimension to the experiences of vocational learners and staff.