The organization of internships (FCT) abroad was the main priority of this project. In addition to all the knowledge acquired in the area of technological training, students learn to be more autonomous, responsible and confident, get to know the culture, language, habits and history of other European countries, learn to live, coexist and share with other colleagues, learn to manage day-to-day financial management, improve their teamwork skills and learn to use public transport that is not available where they live. We also want teachers to observe how professional education works in other realities. We then defined, in the application, the following objectives: Improve the linguistic, personal and technical skills of trainees/students; Improve the integration of graduates into the job market, especially in their area of qualification; Promote the values of inclusion and diversity, tolerance and democratic participation; Acquisition and sharing of good practices and respective promotion of the use of new and innovative technologies and pedagogical methods (through job shadowing); Combat early school leaving and school failure.
Maceira is a small village in Leiria, surrounded by urban centers, which are sometimes more attractive for students. We tried to diversify the training offer including Professional Courses, we promoted the European Club, the Programming and Robotics Club, we are an eTwinning school and an Eco-School and we have the eSafety Label. Since the school began participating in the Erasmus+ program and giving students this opportunity, the number of students who remain at our school after the 9th year has doubled. In 2020, we were awarded the EQAVET compliance seal and we felt that we should provide students with the opportunity to undertake an internship abroad to continue improving the quality of teaching and learning and facilitate their integration into the job market. We believe that participating in these internships will help us meet a set of goals regarding the number of students in training, graduate students and also the numbers related to Employability or Continuing Studies. As a challenge, AEHS seeks to encourage students with fewer opportunities to apply for internships abroad. Carrying out part of the FCT in a foreign country represents, especially for this type of trainee, a unique opportunity.