The 3rd EPAL of Heraklion, located in the municipal district of Nea Alikarnassos, is a multicultural school with students from the city of Heraklion and neighbouring municipalities such as Hersonissos and Malevizi. Students vary in nationality and religion, with the majority being Greek, while most of them belong to lower social & economic classes. School ‘s involvement in European mobility programs is a strategic long-term strategy of the school management and teaching staff, as it is considered beneficial for trainers and trainees in many ways. According to the proposed mobility project, twenty (20) 3rd Grade trainees and two (2) accompanying educators, from the departments of Health & Welfare and Administration & Economics, are going to visit Spain, in collaboration with EUROMIND PROJECTS SL, which has a long term experience in the implementation of European mobility programs. Participants from the departments of Assistant Physiotherapists, Nursing Assistants, Assistant Nursing Staff and Tourism Business Employees, will be placed in selected companies in the city of Seville for two weeks, where they will be working in their field of studies. Along with the traineeship, they will be attending Spanish classes and participating in cultural visits and events in order to experience a comprehensive and fulfilling social life, while learning and working in another European country.The proposed project responds to the Bruges Communiqué's vision of a modern and attractive vocational training system which, among others, promotes a lot of opportunities for experience and training abroad to boost language skills, self-confidence and adaptability. The main objectives of the project, regarding the participants, are:-to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes related to their profession;-to improve awareness of the working conditions of their profession in another EU country;-to enrich the participants’ communication skills, by acquiring appropriate professional terminology in English, and as far as possible, in Spanish;-to boost their self-confidence regarding their knowledge and skills, in order to increase their employability in the demanding European labour market;-to increase motivation for lifelong learning and participation in future learning experiences;-to improve transversal skills related to teamwork, quick adaptation, working under pressure, effective communication, etc.;-to enhance intercultural understanding and strengthen the common European identity by living and working in a different cultural environment;-to improve awareness and appreciation of common European values.Regarding the school community, this mobility project is expected to produce the following outcomes: - Strengthening of the school’s European, intercultural orientation;- Improvement of the management skills in planning and implementing European and other mobility projects; - Increase of teachers’ motivation for self-improvement and continuous, lifelong training in order to adopt best learning strategies and respond to the learners’ needs;- Improvement of the vocational training programs carried out in our school;- Gaining positive publicity that will improve the school΄s reputation, thus increasing the number of students;- Empowerment of the cooperation among vocational education organizations, as well as between them and the European labour market.Potential long term benefits of this project are the increased attractiveness of Vocational Education for young people along with the enrichment of the participants’ CV, in order to effectively assert their job placement in the demanding European and international labour market, reducing the chances of marginalization, and exclusion.

"The field of social and health services is currently among those with the highest employment potential. Despite the current crisis has sharply reduced the employment rate, that of the social and health sector has reported a continued expansion as evidenced by the study ""The prospects for development of white jobs in Italy – Health and social services: economic sectors with the highest employment potential"" conducted by Italia Lavoro in 2014.Nevertheless, the average % of graduates of institutions of the consortium who in 2017 have worked at least six months within the first two years after graduation was only 48,64% and, to make the picture even worse, only the 40,09% of these found a work coherent with their studies.Based on these data, the project ""European vocational training placements in the health and social services sector"" aimed to increase the employability of students and graduates of the healthcare sector, especially those with special needs, socio-economic disadvantages and immigrants, through the acquisition of professional and soft skills as well as a greater awareness of the dynamics of the sector of social and health services and a stronger sense of entrepreneurship.In details, the results of the project are:- Increasing the employability of the graduates belonging to schools in the consortium- Increasing the % of work-based training offered by schools - Contributing to a greater alignment between output skills and demands of the labour market - Increasing the attractiveness of vocational training in social and health services sector - Supporting the diffusion of ECVET in the healthcare sector and foster a greater transparency and recognition of skills acquired The project included 2 mobilities: - an internship of 1 month of 82 students of the fourth year and 21 accompanying people in 5 flows (2 in UK, 1 in Spain, 1 in the Czech Rep. and 1 in Greece)- an internship of 3 months of 21 recent graduates in 5 flows (2 in UK, 1 in Spain, 1 in the Czech Rep. and 1 in Greece) Given the socially disadvantaged contexts where institutions work and the profiles of their students, this project focuses in particular on students with special educational needs (BES), learning disabilities (SLD) or with fewer opportunities and at risk of marginalization and deviance. The consortium included 32 participants with fewer opportunities, including 12 with special needs (BES or DSA).The impact on the actors of the project is in line with the identified objectives and needs described above. In particular: STUDENTS: Through this experience, on the one hand students are more competitive in the job market, on the other they developed civic and social skills useful both on a professional level and in personal life. TEACHERS: The teachers gained a greater awareness of students’ educational needs, changing the practice and theory of teaching based on these needs. VOCATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTES: Vocational training institutes gained skills in the management of European projects and were able to apply with new Erasmus+ training projects, counting on the experience of partnerships in the field. IFOM: IFOM improved its skills in project management, refining the understanding of the needs of the various actors involved in internship projects abroad. By creating new partnerships, IFOM is increasing the impact of work-based learning in vocational training in Europe through new projects. To extend the impact of the project, IFOM is supporting students and teachers in the dissemination activities and involving them in new mobility experiences related to European programs.ENTERPRISES: Participants brought elements of innovation in hospitality entities, which are opening up business internationalization in terms of professional and language skills In the long term the project has an impact on the health and social services system in the Lombardia region and the schools of the province of Milan working in the social and health field in terms of highest rate of employment of graduates and greater consistency between the studies done and the job found."