By implementing the Erasmus + project at Portlaoise Institute we wanted to give students across various courses the opportunity to experience their vocation in another country. This would ensure they would use the skills and knowledge they had learned while taking them away from the comforts of their own home/workplace. While doing this we wanted to encourage students to develop key life skills that would assist them in their lives. As part of this we included cookery training for students to help them make low-cost healthy meals with minimal waste, students also developed a healthy meal plan for the days they had to organise food for themselves. We organised a talk on safety while traveling abroad to ensure students were aware of the risks and what to do if they got into difficulty. We wanted to educate the students on sustainability both while at home and traveling ensuring all students took steps to reduce their food waste, recycle appropriately, and reduce their use of water, etc. At the end of the project, we hoped that the experience the students had gained both in life and work would increase their opportunity to gain employment once they had finished their chosen course.
Portlaoise Institute is a center of excellence in the field of Further Education in the Midlands of Ireland. We are a constituent Institute of the Laois Offaly Education Training Board (LOETB) provides QQI Level 5 and 6 Courses. Portlaoise Institute also provides courses and professional certification in fields such as Beauty Therapy, Hairdressing, Computing, Healthcare, Nursing, Business Studies, Creative Digital and Animation, Sports and Leisure Management. Students at Portlaoise Institute vary in age and background, many would be classified as being students with fewer opportunities with many receiving SUSI grants, VTOS, and BTEA. A number of students are school leavers who have just completed their leaving certificate. Portlaoise Institute had a student population of over 300 students. The institute is a designated DEIS school delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools. We also have a large number of students who are early school leavers or mature students returning back to education to change career paths or upskill for their current employment.