Helsinki Vocational College offers high quality and versatile vocational education for its pupils. Internationalisation and its visibility in the everyday life of the college is seen to add to the attractiveness of the college and provides a way of staying abreast of educational developments in Europe. This project will continue the bilateral mobility flow of previous Erasmus+ projects. The aim is to send 134 students for a 2-10 week long practical training period and 50 teachers for a four day job shadowing period abroad.This project aims to increase equality in gaining competences needed in the working life through international activities, thus aspiring for the aims of the Erasmus+ project. With these international competences Helsinki Vocational College aims to meet the needs of the increasingly multicultural working life.The strategic aim is that every student and Staff member is aware of the possibilities given to gain international competences and have an equal opportunity to participate in the international activities and mobility periods. This projects aims to develop mobility periods to take better into consideration the skills and competences of the different students. It aims to find ways to encourage students to participate also in fields of studies where the students are not voluntarily participating in student exchange. The equal opportunity asks for a transparent process of selection of the participants in this project. The main criteria are, that the candidate is willing to learn and has sufficient skills and willingness to adjust and cope. The mobility periods applied for staff aims to evolve pedagogical and guidance practices, develop the participating staffs vocational field and improve the recognition of learning outcomes. The competences gained will be beneficial for the implementation of the ECVET system in student mobilities. It is believed that the participating staff will be more prepared to meet students from a variety of backgrounds as well be more willing to encourage students to participate in international activities. Mobility periods are seen as a process that includes preparation, implementation and evaluation. The aim of the preparatory activities is that the student is aware of all the documentation needed, personal learning goals and has adequate knowledge to make the travel preparations and to manage once abroad.The Strategic aim of Helsinki Vocational College is that these mobility periods are a recognized part of the participant’s studies. The recognition of these mobilities is based on the implementation of the ECVET from the preparation till the evaluation.Mobility periods are documented and each participant is asked to write a report of their experiences. These stories are gathered to the google-maps platform. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=fi&authuser=0&mid=zc5KXPB2SV0M.kELpo45nfobc Students are asked to send digital postcards that can be shared within the college and will be part of the digital game now being produced.The evaluation of this project follows the principals of evolving evaluation. The material produced for the evaluation supports the implementation and impact of the project. Previous mobility projects have proven beneficial for its participants motivation, studies and later employment. Participants have met their professional goals but as well learned to evaluate the working methods and recognize the cultural basis of the methodologies implemented and use these methods flexibly to develop one’s work. Mobility periods support one’s personal and professional growth, regardless of one’s age, sex and background. Skills beneficial for setting realistic aims in one’s career and for employment.

Our mission as a training college is to provide the best teaching quality to our intermediate vocational programs in our college. Although in our college the facilities have been modernized for the last 20 years, we believe that our students should test new technologies and equipment. The number of participants has been 22 students belonging to the vocational programs of administration, computer-IT, health care, beauty, hairdressing and textiles. All mobilities have taken place in 2 years 2016-2018. The general objectives were: Promote lifelong learning, enhance business initiatives and promote both national and international mobility. The project will promote the acquisition of new methods and different technologies. Students will gain understanding of situations related to business management and vocational training. The project will also give the opportunity to improve their linguistic competence. The participants will be able to compare different techniques and they will learn what are their job opportunities along the E.U. Specific Objectives: To develop team work, creativity and autonomy. To take benefit from the different ways of learning and training in other European countries. To develop new I.T technologies in companies and gain knowledge of other market strategies. To promote greater understanding of the educational, cultural and linguistic realities, way of life and social relations. To be able to take initiative in starting new professions. To facilitate job opportunities within the E.U. We aim to promote mobility amongst young people as a way to fight against unemployment, our unemployment rate is one of the highest in Europe and unfortunately many young qualified people have to travel away from home to find job opportunities. But that is not something unpleasant as means of transport are cheaper nowadays and that provides chances for mobility through the countries. Intermediate vocational students have a low profile of mobility and with these projects we wish to enhance and instill them the idea that mobility is something good and necessary in this times of crisis. The project aims to reach its objectives through the development of mobility within the E.U. Moreover we wish to keep sustainability as one of the important factors of the project; we want the project to last long in time and form properly. The destinations of our mobilities have been partner colleges and enterprises in Finlanda, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The mobilities have taken place during the students practice period for two academic courses , 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.During 2016-17:- 2 Administration students and 2 Microcompuetr Systems were in Vaasa, Finland from 19/04 to 20/05 2017. Placements: Lidl, Sale and Acebo OY.During 2017-18:- 8 Nurse Assistants students, 4 were in Vaasa, Finland from 15/11 to 14/12 2017 and 4 were in Jurmala, Latvia from 14/11 to 13/12 2017. Placements: Villa ISOLAHTI NURSING HOME, Clinical University Hospital Riga P Stradins. 10 students during Spring 2018:- 4 Fashion students in Púchov, Slovakia from 08/04 to 09/05 2018. Placement: ODEMA - 4 Hair and Beauty students in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 08/04 to 09/05 2018. Placements: Robert Štamcar s.p, Frizerski salon Studio TADEJA, Studio lepote, Kozmetični salon Irene Japelj.- 2 Microcomputer Systems students in Vaasa, Finland from 10/04 to 11/05 2018. Placement: ACEBO OY.*We would like to let you know that due to a mistake the number of mobilities for this project was 22 and not 16 as it is said in the summary above.

Project title: Practice abroad has become the way of life A two year long project was organized and coordinated by Srednja šola za farmacijo, kozmetiko in zdravstvo (SŠFKZ - Secondary School for Pharmacy, Cosmetics and Health Care) from Ljubljana, Slovenija. SŠFKZ is a secondary vocational school. Education at SŠFKZ lasts four years and includes four vocational profiles: beauty therapist, pharmaceutical technician, dental technician, technician of laboratory biomedicine. Participants in the project were: a) regular students of all four vocational programs, b) students of adult education - beauty therapy program, c) school staff, mostly teachers, some in the roles of accompanying teachers, and others who stay at home and offer help in various subjects. The project lasted two years and it included six European schools in five European countries (Slovenia, Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic and Spain) and four vocational profiles, mentioned above. The total number of participants was to be 68 (but due to the new coronavirus epidemy) the number of participants was lower at the end of the project. Students: - of vocational program of beauty therapy worked in Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic and Spain, - of vocational program of technician of biomedicine worked in Latvia, Czech Republic and Spain, - of vocational program of dental technician worked in Finland and in Czech Republic, - of vocational program of pharmaceutical technician worked in Finland, Czech Republic and Spain, - accompanying teachers accompanied students abroad. Most participants did their practical work/on the job learning in beauty salons, dental laboratories, pharmacies and hospitals. Some participants worked in the partner schools and their labs, beauty salons etc. Due to the new coronavirus epidemy some mobilities had to be canceled and the students and teachers had to stay home (March - May 2020).All mobilities included European tools Europass CV and Europass mobility. Three main project themes were: a) EU Citizenship, EU Awareness and Democracy, b) Quality Assurance, c) Intercultural and Intergenerational Education and Longlife Learning Project needs and goals: - personal and professional growth of participants, - includes highly motivated participants as well as the ones with less possibilities in life, - includes cooperation of individuals, various sectors, social partners and companies, - improves quality of work, competences, knowledge, - includes national and European citizenship and awareness, - includes the usage of European tools, qualifications and programs, - includes learning of foreign languages and more tolerance for multiculturalism. Short and long term results of the project were/are: - EU awareness, awareness of a wide range of possibilities for an individual and groups in the European framework, - knowledge, new and/or improved qualifications and competences in personal and professional life, - cooperation of sectors, finding new partners for international cooperation, - higher tolerance for different cultures, multiculturalism, knowledge, - improvement of foreign languages, - involvement in the mobility project with high quality, - inclusion of lifelong learning to students and teachers.

During the project 72 students completed a mobility period the average length was 41,6 days. Participants were from 18 different study fields and aged between 18-57 years. Part of the learners were apprentices as well as aiming for a further vocational qualification. Also 23 teachers were given a chance for a staff training period abroad, the staff members included study counseling personnel, prevocational teachers as well as teachers of general subjects and vocational teachers. the age range of the staff was from 27 to 61.Mobility periods affected participant’s attitudes, enhanced resilience and willingness to try. They gave a chance to work in changing situations in an unfamiliar working environment in a foreign working culture in most cases with a foreign language. The training periods gave chances for critical and creative thinking, understanding differences as well as boosted the learning skills and competences.The skills and competences obtained were integrated into the learners study paths. The new legislation asked the college to refresh the courses and studies that the student could gain competences on while working abroad. It has been made possible to gain competence points from both vocational studies as well as from core subject studies.The College offers all participants a common coaching session prior to the departure. Also online materials have been made available for the learners. The college is planning on starting CV and introductory letter workshops to support the students on their mobility period preparations.Helsinki Vocational College aims on giving all its learners equal opportunities for international learning. This aim has been supported by continuous development of the partner network to cover study fields that have not actively been involved in international activities. The project gave a chance to test simultaneous learning in the college: 16 French electrician and maintenance work learners were working in the college’s premises for three weeks. Helsinki Vocational College is sending a group to France this autumn to work in a similar environment. The hope is that this model of mobility suits the study fields and the learners that are not confident enough to travel and work alone.New models of cooperation were also developed for the new study program of nature and environmental studies, where cooperation was built with Allianssi and their voluntary camps. The students participation in these camps and tasks have been raised from their study plans and agreed in a training agreement.The cooperation has as well been broadened geographically. New partner country Malta became a possibility after a student’s workplacement in an elderly care center. Also teachers from the media studies opened the doors for cooperation in Portugal and cooperation was given a kick start with a KA2 project application. The length of the practical training periods have varied broadly from 14-100 days which has given a chance for a deep understanding of the working culture during the long periods as well as targeting in specific competences with the short periods. A rising trend has been students finding their own placements that fit their personal study plans and future visions.The staff motilities gave a chance for developing the colleges international competences. They were seen as a part of the pedagogical and guidance skills development. The participant staff gained understanding and abilities for guiding and preparing the learners for their mobility periods.The teachers were looking for new ideas for teaching as well as familiarizing with foreign schooling systems. All staff members had their personalized goals and they were offered a coaching session. Teachers were also sent in mixed groups from various parts of the college, to gain a broader perspective to the discussions and to network within the college.Helsinki Vocational College aims on giving its students competences needed in work and in life. Reaching this goal asks for international activities and cooperation.

Project title: The first working experiences abroad (2020-22)A two year long project is organized and coordinated by Srednja šola za farmacijo, kozmetiko in zdravstvo (SŠFKZ - Secondary School for Pharmacy, Cosmetics and Health Care) from Ljubljana, Slovenija. SŠFKZ is a secondary vocational school. Education at SŠFKZ lasts four years and includes four vocational profiles: beauty therapist, pharmaceutical technician, dental technician and technician of laboratory biomedicine. Participants in the project are: a) regular students of all four vocational programs, b) students of adult education-beauty therapy program, c) the accompanying teachers and other school staff as well as other partners.The project will last two years and will include six schools in five countries (Slovenia, Finland, Latvia, Czech Republic and Spain) and four vocational profiles, mentioned above. The total number of participants is 76. The mobilities will last 3-4 weeks, the accompanying teachers will stay abroad one week. The mobilities will take part in 16 waves over two years long period:- 20 students of vocational program of beauty therapy will work in Finland, Latvia and Spain,- 12 students of vocational program of technician of biomedicine will work in Latvia, Czech Republic and Spain,- 10 students of vocational program of dental technician will work in Finland and in Czech Republic,- 20 students of vocational program of pharmaceutical technician will work in Finland, Czech Republic and Spain,- 14 accompanying teachers.Mobility groups are small and they include 2-8 students. This is the agreement between the sending and the hosting institutions – they host the number of students that they can take good care of. Most participants will do practical work/on the job learning in beauty salons, dental laboratories, pharmacies and hospitals. Some participants will work in schools and their labs, school beauty salons etc. Most mobility groups/waves will be accompanied by the accompanying teachers. They will lead the groups abroad and make sure the organisation of the accomodation, placement and program is in order. Teachers will make sure students are safe and in good hands. Some students are still minors and need an adult person to lead them and to take good care of them. Most students will live and work abroad alone for the first time. The accompanying teacher plays a large role in the mobility process and its safety.In 2019 the school received the Erasmus+ Charter as a recognition of its good work in the field of internationalisation of the organisation. The project adresses:1.Making of good action plans with flexible strategy2.Quality mobility: knowledge, new qualifications, meeting goals and measuring results3. EU citizenship, changes in Europe and in the world: learning foreign languages, living a different way of life, learning tolerance in the todays' world of multiculturalism.4. Broadening the vocational and social net by including new long- and short- term partners into the various types of projects.5. Introducing the knowledge, the results and the experiences gained in the international projects into the vocational and daily life of the home school, where these needs are to be met:- introducing the new vocational program of beauty therapy (on the higher level),- introducing in the school new national vocational qualifications: manicurist, masseur, make-up artist and pedicurist,- introducing the new program of dental assistant,- the reform of the dental program due to modernisation of the working materials and the technology,- the increasing number of the staff in the internationalization of the school: the school is about to go through many changes (a number of teachers will retired from work in the next years, and new ones will have to be introduced to the school plans in the field of internationalization),- the increasing number of the students will be able to join the various types of international projects; other students will join the home internationalization, meet foreign guests in school, help them, etc.