Through this project, we will offer 300 VET-SHORT and 40 VET-PLONG mobilities. Our target group are young people, aged 16-25, who are often disadvantaged and have had limited/no previous opportunity to travel or live independently. The mobility provides an opportunity to push them out of their comfort zone and broaden their horizons and perspectives, developing their confidence in a supported environment. We have a strong understanding of the needs of our participants and can offer a range of placement and accommodation models, appropriate support mechanisms and strong training model to meet these needs. Our flexible approach will support us to achieve our European Internationalisation Strategy (EIS) goal; to increase the volume and breadth of young people we engage. At REY Europe, we offer young people employability training, with a mobility placement embedded as an integrated component of the course. Using non-formal training methodology, we aim to support young people to develop their confidence and readiness to enter the labour market. Project delivery is staggered throughout the year and we work in partnership with a number of UK organizations who have large volumes of participants who can be signposted to our projects. These partnerships are a key component in our model of recruitment, engagement and support for young people. One of our EIS goals is to diversify our UK partnerships. In this context, we plan to engage local youth employment organisations, as well as FE Colleges and we will invest resource in mapping out and developing this work. We offer our employability course to vocational learners, up to Level 3, who are studying in the following areas; Hair & Beauty, Computing, Business, Travel & Tourism, Catering, Sport and Construction. Our placements are located in Greece, Spain, Czech Republic, France and Portugal. Students are offered the employability course as an enhancement of their vocational qualification and the mobility activity is open to all students enrolled on the course. . The course offers unique benefits in terms of vocational, employability focused and soft skills development. Placements are aligned to each student’s vocational course of study, giving them a chance to simultaneously develop their technical and soft skills, whilst considering aspects such as communication in the workplace, interview techniques and self development. Participants will be joined by an accompanying person (AP) for the first and last week of their placement, at a ratio of 1:10. As our participants will have little, if any experience of travelling abroad or living independently, the AP will provides a crucial function in supporting participants to settle into their host country and accompanying participants whilst they are travelling. Our proposed VET-PLONG activity will be our first offer of longer terms placements to learners. We will offer 40 x 3 month placements to Level 3 graduates of VET construction courses (in Seville) VET business courses (in Prague) This is an opportunity for students to develop their industry standards, knowledge and experience within the sector, as well as developing their soft skills and confidence in a work place environment. We have included, as an Annex, a more detailed plan for the roll-out of our VET-PLONG placements. We have effective quality management and due diligence processes in place to ensure that our European partners meet our minimum standards and offer high quality, structured, well supported and safe placements for participants. Through regular face to face and remote contact and a clear quality assurance framework, we have set the tone for strong, productive working relationships with European partners. The impact on participants is that they gain professional and personal skills, that will enhance both their employability and their technical aptitude in their vocational area. At a local level, this leads to improved motivation and workplace readiness amongst participants, and ultimately, increased employment and better employment opportunities for participants. Through the project, we will put participants in the strongest position to obtain employment, either locally or regionally. We aim to inspire staff and, more widely, other VET training providers to get involved in mobility activity. We will encourage collaboration, good practice sharing and joint training events for participants and staff across different organisations. Host organizations will benefit from a clearer framework for effective partnership working, a better understanding of the UK vocational sector, and more experience of working with our target group, including safeguarding and support requirements. Capturing the impact of our work is one of our EIS goals and we are exploring ways to diversify the way we gather and present our impact, so that we are presenting our work in a way that is meaningful and relevant to our audiences.

This project provided 287 Leicester college learners with the opportunity to participate in an overseas work placement in Seville, Spain, lasting between 2 - 4 weeks. The participants were recruited from three different vocational courses with the College : - Construction - Hospitality & Catering - Travel & Tourism The participants were recruited over two academic years. The project was planned to run between September 2018 and June 2020, but due to the high demand from learners, we completed the placements than anticipated, with the last group returning in xxx. 2x 36 Hospitality & Catering participants will travel for 3 weeks 2x 15 Travel & Tourism participants will travel for 2 weeks 10x 20 Construction participants will travel for 4 weeks Participants travelled with tutors from their respective vocational areas who supported them to settle in to Spain and begin their work placement. The participants undertook a range of tasks within their work placement that related to their vocational course of study. Leicester College's course tutors identified specific units of their vocational course that could be achieved within the context of the work placement. The learning outcomes for each unit were detailed in an individual learning agreement for each participant, which also included guidance on how learning should be recorded and evidenced whilst the learner was on placement. The ECVET framework was used to support this process, with all roles and responsibilities for the host organisation detailed within a memorandum of understanding. The course tutor joined as an accompanying person and met with each of the host organisations during the first week of the mobility to discuss this process and clarify roles and responsibilities. The accompanying person also supported the participants during the last week of the mobility to assist them to gain all of the required evidence for their course, before their return to the UK. None of our participants had completed an overseas work placement previously, and we found approx 4 weeks to be a realistic time frame for each cohort to adjust both working and living in a new country, whilst gaining meaningful work experience in a structured environment. Participants were supported by the host organisation staff throughout the mobility as well as by their accompanying person, to assist them to achieve their Learning Outcomes. All participants received preparatory training to help them to prepare for the mobility; they also received an in-country orientation when they arrived in Spain, to assist them to adjust to the environment and get familiar with the local surroundings. The participants received structured support from both their course tutor and line manager within the work placement. Completing an overseas work placement provided an opportunity for participants to develop their soft skills. Participants were supported to set goals and reflect on their learning in this area and think about how they could use these skills practically, on their return to the UK. In recent years we have received extremely positive feedback from our past participants in regards to their mobility experience. The mobility projects provide participants with an opportunity for personal and professional development, and this has impacted on our learners by increasing their job readiness and broadening their perspective and aspirations. They have gained sector specific work experience and a new perspective on labour market opportunities. This has motivated, engaged and inspired our learners to complete their course of study and progress to further education and/or employment. Leicester college has used this project as a staff development opportunity for the tutors involved. It has enabled us as a College to enhance our course offering, making our courses more attractive to prospective learners and widen the scope of our curriculum. It has contributed to the College's wider internationalisation strategy, to bring new perspectives and engage in new partnerships within our work. It has increased our experience and knowledge of delivering qualifications that include a practical work element with a European working environment.

CONTEXT The two-year Internships in Spain and Portugal (INSPO) project will give 240 learners from Newham College of Further Education the opportunity to spend two weeks working in either Spain (Seville/Málaga) or Portugal (Faro). The work experience will be directly related to their vocational studies which include the sectors of Travel and Tourism; Customer Service; Hospitality, Administration; Digital Technology, and Accounting/Finance. The above sectors have been selected for this project based on the skills gaps the industries are facing today and the need to address these disparities in line with the growth of the sectors. We want to focus on creating professional opportunities for our learners (many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds) and give them an experience to travel outside of their local community – from which many of them rarely leave. Newham itself is a highly deprived area, with 30% of its wards ranked in the top 10% of the most deprived in the UK. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the INSPO project include: - Providing our learners with meaningful work experience which will be directly applicable to their current vocational courses and eventually their future careers - Deepening learners’ knowledge of their sector, from a European as well as a UK perspective - Exposing learners to the Spanish/Portuguese languages - Deepening their understanding and respect of other cultures - Giving them greater confidence in their skills and abilities, especially when faced with challenging situations - Improving their overall employability and increasing their potential of finding more work within the sector in the future - Helping them to have a clearer direction regarding their future career; helping learners decide what aspects of the industry they most/least enjoy so that they can take action accordingly in the future - Improving participants’ soft skills e.g. time management, teamwork, communication skills, etc. PARTICIPANTS Many of the participants in this project will come from low socio-economic backgrounds and will face a variety of issues outside of the college environment including poor housing, fractured/chaotic family structures, responsibilities as care-givers for other family members, high exposure to drugs/alcohol and lack of good role models, amongst others. As a result of these issues, our learners often have low aspirations, poor social and employability skills, lack of cultural awareness/experience and lack of any foreign language skills. We want to give them opportunities not only to prevent them from becoming part of the out-of-work population but to actively thrive in a career that they love. ACTIVITIES The principal activity taking place in the INSPO project is a two-week period of work experience in a company which is directly related to their vocational course. Other activities will include: - Cultural Activities: including historical tours of host cities, intercambio evenings, etc. - Mentoring and monitoring: to ensure that each participant is on track professionally and that they are coping well socially and emotionally. - Dissemination: of project results and outcomes to potential participants, local colleges/training centres/industry networks/policy makers. - Project Evaluation: based on participant/partner/staff feedback and used as a tool for continual improvement throughout the project life cycle METHODOLOGY The INSPO project will create a learning experience for 240 participants which involves developing key skills related to their sector – and transferable, ‘soft’ skills that can be applied to their working life in general – alongside industry professionals based in Spain and Portugal. Our previous experience in European projects means we will apply tried and tested processes for e.g. monitoring, evaluation, selection of participants and partners, dissemination, etc. RESULTS AND IMPACTS The INSPO project will bring about the following impacts: Learners: Development of hard skills related to their vocational aspirations; development of transferable skills and general employability skills; increased confidence and self-esteem; deeper understanding of other European countries and greater cultural awareness; increased knowledge of another European language Partners: Greater capacity to manage European projects; increased staff competences in areas including recruitment, partner liaison and pastoral care-giving; deeper knowledge of the management of EU funding; improved knowledge of their area of VET both in the UK and Europe LONGER-TERM BENEFITS We believe the project will provide long-lasting benefits for our participants by giving them new skills and experience to add to their professional portfolio, which they will then be able to refer to in years to come. The project will also work towards building a national workforce that is equipped with the competences needed to meet the skills gaps identified in our developmental research.