Thanks to this project, 48 internships were carried out in England, Ireland and Spain. Internships of 4, 6 and 13 weeks took place in companies and were attended by 2nd and 3rd year students of the Business Academy.The project has helped to improve the quality of provided education (especially in the field of vocational and language training), to link teaching with practice and to give education a European dimension.The aim of the project was to provide students of our school with professional practice in foreign companies, develop their professional knowledge, skills and competencies, gain work experience, support the development of intercultural competencies and communication skills in English, increase their job mobility, personality development and more.The participation in the project enabled students to get to know a new cultural environment, gain life experience and fulfill their mandatory practical training. Our school as a sending organization developed cooperation with partners abroad.Before leaving for the internship, the participants completed language, cultural, work and organizational training, which was provided by the sending organization. Within the OLS, participants completed compulsory English level testing before and after the internship, as well as self-study lessons.The content of the internships was adapted to the individual needs and preferences of the participants. The participants worked in the field of administration, business and hospitality. They performed tasks defined on the basis of ECVET units of learning outcomes. Some of them were using computer technology, the Internet and corporate software. Other participants gained experience in running a small business where they communicated with customers, served guests, worked with a cash register or in a warehouse, or prepared goods for sale.The results of the project are mainly in intangible form - the development of professional and language knowledge, skills, competencies and personalities of the participants. The material outputs of the project include, in particular, Europassy Mobility, ECVET documentation, photo documentation, articles and information materials in electronic media and in the press.The impact of the project on the participants lies in the acquired knowledge, skills and competences in the professional and language area as well as soft skills. This will help them in further studies and after graduation it will be reflected in the increased employability of participants in the labour market.We see the impact of the project on the sending organization in the area of international cooperation, exchange of experience and building the prestige of our school. The level of professional and language training of students has increased.In the European context, the project is important in terms of promoting vocational training, labour mobility, developing foreign language skills, recognition and standardization of qualifications, transfer and exchange of experience.

Internships Abroad - Important Element for Employment of School-Leavers on the Labour Market in the EU Countries is a successfully accomplished two-year mobility project. It included both internships of secondary school students and professional development of technical subjects teachers. The name of the proposing and sending institution was Obchodní akademie a Vyšší odborná škola sociální Ostrava-Mariánské Hory, příspěvková organizace, from the Czech Republic.The receiving organizations were:- Swan Training Institute, Dublin, Ireland- Europroyectos Erasmusplus S.L., Córdoba, Spain- HochVier - Gesellschaft für politische und interkulturelle Bildung e.V., Potsdam, Germany.During the three-week internship in Ireland, Spain and Germany the students got new work experience, abilities and skills, what is more, in a foreign language surrounding. The students were placed in business companies or service oriented companies, while others were in government or non-government non-profit organizations, social security offices or cultural facilities.The objective of the teacher mobility was improving the quality level of the technical educational process in our school and adjusting to the requirements of the international labour market. The teachers visited educational institutions of similar focus, as the sending school (economy, business, and public administration), next prospective and successful companies and institutions – the employers of technical schools graduates in all the three countries. Last but not least, there was also job shadowing with foreign colleagues.The total number of 30 participants comprised of 20 VET learners in companies – 12 in Ireland, 4 in Germany, and 4 in Spain) and 10 Staff training abroad – 6 in Ireland, 2 in Germany, and 2 in Spain. The students participating were motivated students of 3-year fields Business Academy, Economic Lyceum, and Public Administration. Their age was 17-18. The teachers participating are involved in teaching technical economic subjects in a foreign language combined with active command of ICT competencies.The students who participated have taken an active part in 3-week internship in Irish, Spanish, and German companies and institutions. The students worked in these branches: - work with office software, - work with software in an economic informational system, - work with logistics software,- keeping public files according to valid regulations, - work in area of logistics and management of supply delivery, - retail trade,- communication with clients on the level of providing commercial and public services.All the participants of the internship followed the instructions of their supervisor at the workplace. The supervisor´s task was to select such work methods, which correspond with the technical personal profile of each student, listed in their CV and Letter of Application. An emphasis was laid onto reliable and individual solving of the set tasks in the areas mentioned above. The students were motivated (according to their language skills) to active communication at the workplace. The teachers who participated took an active part in a week work programme, which was based on these points:- comparison of Czech and their educational system and the particular specifications, - methodology and ways of teaching a foreign language,- success of the graduates of specific study fields at the job market,- ability to modify educational offer to the requirements of the job market.After the teachers returned back, all these points were discussed in a conference, were talked about in technical subject departments and modifications in ŠVP (School Education Programme) were suggested, which were later presented to the leadership of the school to be approved.The impact of the internship on the project participants is great. During the 3-week internship in Ireland, Spain and Germany the students gained new work experience, skills and abilities, furthermore in a foreign language surroundings. ECVET system, which we compiled and used in collaboration with our foreign partners, made it possible to clearly certify the achieved technical progress of all the participants. The teachers who also participated in the work programme in Ireland, Spain, and Germany were given an opportunity to suggest some modifications of the educational plan of our school. We might presume that the obtained knowledge, experience and skills will be used directly in the educational process, in the preparation onto the educational process and so the level of the technical education at our school will be increased. Besides the mentioned above, a long-lasting benefit of the project is the creation of a functional network of international contacts, which will be used also during the next mobility project initiated by the sending institution, approved for 2016-2018.

"1) Main activities - internationalisation strategy results and impactThe mobility plan proposed for the first year of implementation of the school international strategy involves 56 students’ and 10 teachers’ mobility for training activities and it is aimed at:- Ensuring the integration of mobility into the curriculum through the comparison with international partners who have developed new tools and educational paths internationally oriented. The direct comparison with corporate partners also leads the school to align with the needs of the labor market.- Modelling the bonds started on the territory with the actors of the labor market, both in the creation of internships and in the development of international partnerships.Therefore, increasing the complementarity of the actors in the network without losing sight of the existing diversity and autonomy, using national and international network as best one can and enhancing the experiences already made.The curving given to the internationalization strategy of the EU is based on a careful reflection on the skills of the different courses born from the school reform and from their consistency with the needs of vocational education of the territory, characterized by innovative processes and oriented to the export and the global markets.In terms of education policy, the training activities are planned in collaboration with a network of international partners that has a diversified background and ""expertise"", supported by important partners in the local area: Industrial Union of the Province of Varese; Chamber of Commerce; Association of Small Industries and by prestigious international groups willing to invest in vocational education and to work with the school, in order to:- Implement the integration of the European dimension into the curriculum in a systematic and on-going way- Consolidate the network of relations with various educational agencies;- Promote new forms of skill certifications in line with the European and Regional frameworks;- Disseminate innovative training models integrated into the curriculum and promote their sustainability over time;2) Type and profile of the participants and activities StudentsThe 56 three-weeks’ placements scheduled for students are aimed to integrate into the curriculum the international dimension and mobility with an approach oriented to the Personal Learning Environment (PLE). This implies that the students will use different methods and techniques designed to enhance the soft skills: on the one hand e-Learning and on the other hand self-learning through direct experience in the companies, without distinction between the two different moments.In line with the PLE (Personal Learning Environment) methodology, the placement programs will be designed to:- meet the specific needs of the local economy and the professional profile of each trainee - be accompanied by ""follow-up"" activities to check the results of the experience .Students will be able to develop soft skills, team working, language skills, critical thinking, autonomy and pro-activity thanks to the interaction with the representatives of the business world. They will find people who share the same interests and will have the opportunity to exchange information and knowledge.Teachers/staffThe teachers’ placements need to be consistent with the review of the curriculum which is not a list of contents any more, but is based on skills and competences, with a high level of common design, aimed at expanding the training offer with a careful look at the integration of the planned activities into the curriculum.The ""Staff Competences"" to be developed belong to teaching and methods domains and are aimed to:- Analyze the soft skills required by companies operating on the target markets for local businesses- Receive stimuli for the educational innovation and for experimenting new forms of cooperation in the field of education;- Promote planning capacity of training placements;- Plan work placement paths in an international context;- Promote the comparison in the field of the skill certification in formal and non-formal settingsAccompanying teachersAs expected from the technical Erasmus+ guidelines, each group of students will be accompanied by a teacher who will stay for a short period of time, five days plus two travel days,, to optimize the cost benefit ratio, but enough to:- ensure the inclusion of the trainee in the new reality- control the quality of the accommodation- make arrangements with the tutors of the hosting institution and the company, - take care of integration into the company and follow the subscription of the Learning and Training agreements."

Today for employee good personal qualities and a willingness to adapt to new circumstances, to make the right conclusions and to be cooperative are becoming increasingly important. Through the project it is possible to affect positively the ability to develop and adapt, to understand cultural differences and deepen the interest in professional development. During two academic years (2016/2017 and 2017/2018) we carried out 2-8 week work placements for 53 students from 16 different occupational fields. Less than half of them were testing new ECVET modules.12 vocational teachers carried out 1-2 week work placement in enterprises or participated in a job shadowing. The purpose of the mobility of teaching staff is their participation in additional training. This is part of the annual teachers’ training program, which is planned as result of self-evaluation and development chat of teacher and development plan of school. Kuressaare RTC has established the vocational training scheme which includes also two-week training in company. The goal of work placement in foreign country is the acquisition of new professional skills, improving language skills and gaining working experience in a foreign country. Job shadowing helps attendees find solutions to employment-related bottlenecks and to get new ideas for everyday work. The Development Plan of KRTC states that for ensuring the high-quality teaching and education the international elements are added to the training ( internship abroad , teacher traineeship, etc ) . The goal is that at least 4 % of the students have the opportunity to perform their internships abroad. The project's overall objective was to give students from various specialties the opportunity to perform the work placement in highly-rated schools and their partner companies. The result of work placement is the acquisition of new skills and knowledge and professional skills in unfamiliar cultural and linguistic environment, but also the experience of the present-day mentoring in enterprises. Positive feedback from such experience will bring more young people to vocational training institutions and improve their career prospects later. The accompanying aim was to introduce of the ECVET credit points system through the work placements. KRTC has participated in the 2009-2012 in INTERREG IVa HETA - ECVET project, which developed in collaboration with the project partners (Omnia and Varia school) 7 ECVET modules of different specialties, which were successfully tested in the previous study year . From 2012-2014 we were continued in Leonardo TOI project STEVTA ( the creation and elaboration of common training modules), in cooperation with the Finnish , French and German partners. The project used the additional documents as the Memorandum of Understanding and Learning Agreement. The project objective is to obtain assurance that the developed learning modules and assessment criteria are actually working and thus ensure the more transparent and better quality of recognition of work placements, organization and network of partner schools . The project is considered successful as the participants (both teachers and students) have acquired the necessary work attitudes, study outcomes, improve their foreign language skills, and have coped with the environment and thus achieved a sufficient self-confidence to start after the graduation of their independent professional career. Vocational teachers gained by work shadowing or work placement vocational experience, they learned innovative techniques and methods to carry out better teaching and develop curricula. The project will result in the effective mutual recognition of the ECVET system for selected modules and the national context (Finland, Germany, France). Through the program the participants:• acquired new professional knowledge and practical skills;• ensured the high quality and competitive education that will help realize their abilities and personality assumptions – be successful in working life, society and the world;• got a broad range of international experience, which is especially needed to cope with the cultural environment;• increased the level of cooperation through the development of personality traits, creativity, openness, communication skills, decision making ability, the courage to take risks , etc.;• contributed to the development of training (curricula and process);• impacted on employment in the region (there will be more competitive graduates) .

The project 'Získej zkušenosti v Evropě - Get Experience in EU - GEEII' was created on the basis of our previous excellent cooperation with our project partners from Luxembourg, Austria and Ireland in the project Erasmus+ 'Učíme se praxí v EU – We learn from experience in EU'. A new partner in the project was the Spanish company Universal Mobility SL which allowed to involve students who were studying Spanish in our school. The aim of the project was to help students use and improve their language and technical skills in the European countries as well as improve their qualification and competitive abilities on the labour market. The system ECVET was used for evaluation and the Europass Mobility for certification. The project also included a long-term student ErasmusPro mobility and an employee mobility in technical education. This latter mobility was prepared in cooperation with our Luxembourgish partner Lycee Technique.Our teachers could improve their language skills, mainly in German and English, and compare their gained skills with their counterparts from the educational institution from Luxembourg. The teachers also focused on using information technology in education and could compare using e-learning tools. The biggest synergy took place in technical and IT subjects. The participants got experience in management and established contacts with the companies in which our students worked. They also focused on integration and education of foreign students, inclusion, and further education of adults. Another important topic was early leaves from education system.The project was designed for second, third and forth year students of all branches who were chosen according by set and transparent rules.All the host organizations remained same as presented in the project application. During the project we had to involve a new partner for the second run in Austria. The part 'Technical Education - Internship in Company' of the project involved 35 students of our school: 8 students to Luxembourg, 8 to Spain, 12 to Ireland and 7 to Austria with one extra student instead of planned 6. In ErasmusPro project, 4 students participated in 3-month intership in Ireland. There was a preparation course focused on specific, cultural and psychological differences of the countries in order to prevent all possible risks. Meetings with participants´ parents were also very useful. There were 11 accompanying persons.In the VET staff mobility in Luxembourg the group included 14 teachers and a maintenance technician. Achieved goals:Students:Based on their written messages and evalution, interviews after coming back and their presentations for other students, we state that they became familiar with the visited country´s economy, grasped principles of the company in which they worked, including the management mechanisms. The mobility improved their personal competences, experience in logistics, transport, marketing, sales, administration and finance depending on the department or branch they worked in. Another important benefits were an improvement of their language skills which was proved by their test results in the system OLS after their return, learning about culture differences of each country which contributed to gain intercultural competences and getting new contacts which even led to making new friends with whom they are in contact until now. Teachers:We achieved our goal to extend our partnership in Luxembourg with the teacher mobility in technical education and allowed our teachers to compare the education systems in the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. There had been a replacement of the headmaster in the partner school, but thanks to the project and intense contacts, we managed to maintain the high standards of our cooperation and made plans and contracts for the future. Our future projects were discussed at the workshops. Our employees visited IFEN, the Luxembourgish Institute of National Education of Teachers in Walferdange and participated in a seminar focused on pregradual and postgradual training of teachers mainly in technical education. They also visited the European Investment Bank and the European School in Kirchberg, which is attended by children of EU administration workers. Our employees learnt about multicultural and multilingual education and environment as well as development of democracy and European values. They also gained an insight into education forms and methods in multicultural and multilingual classes with the use of IT, including LMS systems. In the DV company in Wormeldange they learnt about logistics chains and had a very interesting meeting with the Czech honorary consul and ambassador. The cultural programme included visits to important sights, especially historically connected with our country, such as the grave of John of Bohemia. Our teachers used the gained knowledge and experience for teaching their subjects and updating their electronic teaching materials.