Pràctiques d'FP en empreses Europees: ERASMUS AND LEONARDO PROGRAMMES

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La Formació Professional, tant els Cicles Formatius de Grau Mitjà (CFGM) com els de Grau Superior (CFGS), són estudis amb una formació tècnica molt específica amb l’objectiu d’ensenyar un ofici determinat. Al final de qualsevol cicle formatiu s'han de realitzar unes pràctiques formatives (FCT) en una empresa del sector per tal de posar en pràctica tot allò après i que l’alumne/a aprengui de la seva pròpia feina.
Aquesta estada formativa normalment es dur a terme en empreses de Menorca, però el Programes Europeus LEONARDO DA VINCI i ERASMUS donen la possibilitat de realitzar part d’aquestes pràctiques en una empresa d’un altre país de la Unió Europea. Aquests programes tenen per objectiu el foment de la mobilitat dels treballadors per tota la Unió Europea i la millora de la competència lingüística en llengües estrangeres dels estudiants, com a eina bàsica per aquesta mobilitat internacional.
La participació en aquest programes pot ser una experiència personal molt enriquidora. Es coneix una altra cultura i es té la possibilitat de millorar el nivell en llengües estrangeres, a part de poder professionalitzar-se a nivell europeu coneixent processos laborals innovadors que en molts casos aquí encara no s’apliquen. Participar en un programa d’aquestes característiques suposa una experiència personal i professional molt interessant, que sense cap dubte pot ser un punt a favor a l’hora de trobar feina.

Participació en el Programa ERASMUS - Clica aquí

Els alumnes dels CFGS que vulguin fer una estada formativa a qualsevol país de la UE , ho han de fer a través de Programa Erasmus, sempre i quan el seu centre tengui la Carta Europea Erasmus. L’IES Josep Maria Quadrado disposa de l'actualització de la Carta, necessària a partir d'aquest any.

Participació en el Programa LEONARDO DA VINCI -  Clica aquí

Aquest va dirigit a alumnes dels CFGM i de PQPI que tenen interès en dur a terme una part de les seves pràctiques a l’estranger. L'IES Josep Matria Quadrado, gestiona el seu projecte propi des d'aquest curs 2013-14.

Funcionament bàsic
L’IES disposa d'un coordinador de mobilitat. Aquest s’encarreguen de gestionar tota la documentació necessària, publicar la convocatòria, organitzar els viatges i l’estada i trobar empreses d’acollida on els alumnes puguin fer les pràctiques, però els alumnes interessats també han de participar en tot el procés.
Preparació lingüística
Els alumnes interessats han de rebre una preparació lingüística i cultural abans de la mobilitat de dos o tres mesos de duració.
Durada:
Les estades són de 4 setmanes, dins el període de pràctiques en empresa (FCT).
Ajuda Econòmic:
La dotació de la beca ve determinada pel país de destí, de manera que una estada en un país amb un nivell econòmic més alt compta amb una ajuda més gran que si té lloc en d’altres països. Inclou les despeses de manutenció, allotjament, desplaçaments locals i viatge d’anada i tornada. Aquesta ajuda pot complementar-se amb una dotació específica més si hi ha despeses justificades de preparació lingüística, tant la prèvia a Menorca com la que es pugui realitzar en el mateix país de destinació.
Requisits  
-         Complir els requisits d’accés a les FCT, no tenir mòduls pendents.
-         Coneixements en llengües estrangeres, preferentment la llengua del país de destí.
-         Maduresa personal, capacitat de superació i motivació.


Describing our institution: 

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The IES Josep Maria Quadrado is a state school located in Ciutadella de Menorca, Balearic Islands, where students are taught secondary education, undergraduate education and vocational training education, including both tertiary and first cycle degrees: Initial Vocational Training Program of  Domestic Plumbing (PCPI), an Intermediate Vocational Training course: refrigeration ventilation and AC technician, and Higher Vocational Training Course: Maintenance Technician in HVAC-R facilities. It has a management team of 10 people and a mobility coordinator, responsible for implementing mobility programs (Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus) in high school. All courses in our training cycle are detailed in Catalan on our website.

In the school, we are 70 teachers and 600 students, and 6 administration staff workers and services. This center provides the professional family "Installation and Maintenance" since 1996, and has trained most of the professionals in this family on the island of Menorca.  For a long time, we have been promoting educational proposals to facilitate exchanges, the cooperation and the mobility of our teachers and students among the education and training systems in European countries. These initiatives have become a quality reference for our school.

Thereby, under the European Lifelong Learning Program  we want to reach the following aims:
-To enhance the quality of our higher-level vocational training and therefore the expertise of our technicians.
-To provide a European approach to future professionals in Menorca, participating and contributing to the European area of higher education.
-To strengthen the sense of global citizenship in the professionals, in order to improve the social cohesion and the intercultural dialogue on the island.
-To prepare the professionals for future technical and organizational changes in their evolving sector, encouraging the exchange of relevant information  to the profession.
-To promote the implementation of sustainable energy development in Menorca, as it is done in other European countries with more advanced technologies.

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In our educational institution are taught secondary education, undergraduate education and vocational education and training, including both tertiary and first cycle degrees. For a long time, we've been promoting educational proposals to facilitate exchanges, the cooperation and the mobility of our teachers and students among the education and training systems in European countries. These initiatives have become a quality reference for our college.

In addition to assuming the general objectives of the European Lifelong Learning Program in which since 2006 these initiatives are included, we apply to be able to participate in the Erasmus Program to reach the following aims:

  • Enhance the quality of our higher-level vocational training and therefore the expertise of our technicians.
  • Provide an European approach to future professionals in Menorca, participating and contributing to the European area of higher education.
  • Strengthen the sense of global citizenship in the professionals, thereby improving the social cohesion and the intercultural dialogue on the island.
  • Prepare the professionals for future technical and organizational changes in their evolving sector, encouraging the exchange of information relevant to the profession.
  • Promote the implementation of sustainable energy development in Menorca, as it is done in other European countries with more advanced technologies. Specifically under the EUC, our college plans to introduce the on job training placements in European Companies for the higher education students.

Our previous experiences under the LdV Program have been 7 successful placements in several Italian Companies of Vincenza and Florence. Moreover, our institution owns a wide experience in European educational exchanges:

  • Academic year 2000-01:participation in the multilateral Comenius "Educating city project ESPE" along with other high schools from Hungary and Italy.
  • Academic year 2003-04: new multilateral Comenius project called "GRYBB. Rings for Education" coordinated by an Italian school and with the participation of other schools from Hungary, The Netherlands, France and the Czech Republic.
  • Academic year 2007-11: four editions of the project "Bike-coast-Bike" have been performed within the bilateral Comenius program with a Dutch high school in Hoorn.
  • Academic year 2009-10: we launched another multilateral Comenius project called "FIN", involving schools from the Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey.
  • Academic year 2010-11: language exchanges with secondary schools of France and Catalonia.

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  • Academic year 2012-013:participation in the multilateral Comenius "Isolation" along with other secondary schools from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Austria .

Furthermore, our participation in the “Secciones Europeas” project from the year 2005-06 should be taken into consideration. The subjects Music, Art and Physical Education in secondary education are taught in English. In addition, two subjects in our higher-level vocational training course are being taught in English.


Why to move abroad

The IES Josep Maria Quadrado has participated in several projects of Leonardo Da Vinci mobility of students, in calls for 2007, 2010 and 2012 and 2013, allowing several students to take their module On-the-Job Training (FCT), which they need to finish their studies, in a different European country.
The project aims that students come into contact with new technologies on the professional areas they study, and in an industrial environment very different from what can be found in the Balearic Islands, and especially in Menorca, which is quite limited. The main objective is that students know and assume the reality of the European Labour Market they belong to, and that they become able to remove boundaries and open cultural, social and professional horizons. Another important objective is to promote the development of the students' language skills in a foreign language, especially English. Therefore, the chosen formula is immersion in host countries where the students can cope with a EU language, like Italian, Finnish or German, and offer an attractive technological development in the field of installation and maintenance.
In order to extend the European projection at all levels of education from our training cycle, we have applied for the Erasmus charter for our Higher Level Training Course. This letter will provide our High Vocational Training students the opportunity to take their two months of their On-the-Job learning period in a foreign country. The mobilities taken in any part of this Erasmus framework are designed for students who are over 18 years, who are enrolled in the 2nd year of the Higher Level Training Course.
We also welcome foreign students who want to come to Menorca for their On-the-Job learning period.  We try to do our best on helping them to find a good acommodattion and placement. Tutors are also welcome.

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 Internship in Menorca: how do we work?

Our main objective is that the students acquire and use the knowledge, competences and qualifications needed to facilitate their personal development, employability and participation in the European labor market. In order to get this, the specific objectives are set based on updated and advanced technology contents. We also want to improve their professional competence in general. It will be dealt with internship in companies (FCT) related to Thermal Systems Maintenance.

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In our Vocational Training Department, we work as a team, and have constant communication with the National Agency OAPEE. Our Mobility Coordinator is responsible for: the publication and development of student selection of our Leonardo and Erasmus students, the arrangements of placements of students from abroad, searching and contacting partners and monitoring the completion of the On-the-Job learning period at companies.
To get this, we have an intermediary institution who is in charge of searching and assigning the host partners (companies) to each of our students abroad, according to their technical profile and the previous agreement with the company. The contents to be developed by the participants during the internship (“Formación en Centros de Trabajo”) will correspond to the contents of the vocational training level the students have.
On the other hand, we need to promote modern foreign languages learning. At first, it will be dealt with the students' training, sometimes before the mobility, other times in the host country,  and also transversally, by the students' language immersion in the host country. We offer an intensive Spanish course for foreign students who come to Menorca for their placements.
Regarding the host companies, it is essential their willingness to collaborate with us, paying continuous attention to the participants, facilitating their integration in the teamwork, controlling the activities they do, providing  technical formation when needed, and making possible the fluent communication with the student to guarantee the success of the project. In order to select the host partners, we rely on our intermediary partners in Finland (Yÿvaskÿla College), in Germany (Berufsbildungszentrum am Nord-Ostsee-Kanal) and in Italy (Instituto Leonardo da Vinci de Florencia), which are prestigious by their organization in staying, accomodation and company searching, and with which we have already had very good experiences in previous mobilities. As the intermediary partner, we all have seen the profile of the companies needed for the internship development, we all have looked for the best accomodation conditions, and we all have a very attractive proposal in which the internship is combined with a complete plan aimed at controlling and attending the participants.

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How to apply?

  • Local students:

At the beginning of our school year, we will start informing students about the philosophy of Mobility Projects, PAP Erasmus and Leonardo Da Vinci, and the characteristics of the projects; their objectives, priorities, procedures and necessities.
A good selection of the participants is essential to guarantee the success of the placements. We usually launch the call for our students in October, so that the interested students can apply. As a selection process, they are asked to write the CV-Europass in English, a motivation letter and the grant application form. They have to attend a personal interview (held by the student's tutor and the mobility coordinator) and a language level test (assessed by an English teacher of the school). In the selection criteria, it is taken specially into account the last year personal and academic record, the foreign language level, the skills and the attitude towards the objectives of the mobility project. Another essential  component is the student's willingness to work in group and to adapt to a new and different atmosphere, like the one they will find in a foreign country, with a different language and culture. With all these components and the report of the Vocational Training teachers, it will be determined if the student is suitable to participate and the  adaptation and success possibilities.

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  • Foreign students :

During all our school year we are open to receive requests from our European partners for stays in Menorca and to study its feasibility.
Tutors and students from other countries should contact the Mobility Coordinator, Sandra Cerezo (Aquesta adreça de correu-e està protegida dels robots de spam.Necessites Javascript habilitat per veure-la., 971 48 02 37).


 Linguistic training:

Linguistic preparation in the language of the destination country will be held throughout the months of January, February and March. These lessons take place in the afternoon, after school hours, as the school hires the services of a private language center of excellence in the city, which provides the students a high level of oral training and practice.

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Foreign students will be prepared in our language with the necessary dose of grammar, activity-based literacy practices and conversation, simulating common situations, and a special section for technical terminology, of tools and facilities they will find in the company. We offer the students an intensive course of 10 hours, during the first week of stay in our country. For any language problem, the mobility coordinator is always available to support them even in their free time. However, our school-business relationship is very close and familiar, so the linguistic problems are easily solvable.


The process step by step:

At the beginning of the year our European partners are contacted by telephone and e-mail in order to renew our commitment for another year. After this, we publish the call for the scholarship in the center and perform the selection of students, according to established criteria and language. Before mobilities, we sign a series of agreements that reflect the different training activities that students are prepared to perform according to their curriculum, and that will show at the end of the process if it was successful. The placements of our students abroad take place in the last quarter of the school year (April-May-June). They work in companies where they can put into practice the knowledge acquired during the Professional course , and where they can make fully autonomous life that will help / force them to deal with a language and culture other than their own. The dates for sending and receiving students are specified each year depending on the school holidays in the different countries.

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Of course, we believe in the necessity of a prior preparation phase for the participants, and in a careful selection of them, to ensure the success and experience of the project. Placements monitoring is done by the HEIS coordinator, along with European intermediary partners via email and skype to check the integration of students in the host companies. The coordinator also makes a conference via skype with students each week. As a result of this experience, at the end of the project the students receive the appropriate certificate attesting to their stay and the Europass Mobility document.


Our tasks as a sending institution are:

  • To define placement objectives in terms of the skills and competences to be developed.
  • To choose the appropriate target country, host organisation, project duration and placement to achieve the objectives.
  • To select participants on the basis of clearly defined and transparent criteria.
  • To prepare participants in collaboration with partner organisations for the practical, professional and cultural life of the host country, in particular through tailored language training to meet their occupational needs.
  • To establish a contract including a training agreement, the contents of which are transparent for all the involved parts .
  • To manage transport, accommodation, visa/work permit arrangements and social security cover and insurance.
  • To evaluate with each participant the personal and professional development achieved through participation in the Leonardo programme.
  • To negotiate a tailor-made training programme for each participant (if possible during preparatory visits).
  • To agree monitoring and mentoring arrangements.
  • To implement agreed validation procedures to ensure recognition of the acquired skills and competences .
  • To establish appropriate communication channels for all parts, including participants.
  • To evaluate the progress of the project on an on-going basis and take appropriate action if required.

Our tasks as a hosting institution are:

  • To foster understanding of the culture and lifestyle of the host country.
  • To assign  tasks and responsibilities to participants to match their knowledge, skills, competences and training objectives, and ensure that the appropriate equipment and support is available.
  • To identify a tutor to monitor the participant’s training progress.
  • To provide practical support if required.
  • To check appropriate insurance cover for each participant.

Why we trust mobility programmes

We firmly believe in the importance of conveying to our students a European perspective to their profession as a way of getting an improvement of their technical ability and professional competitivity, of their vision about the European Union, and of their language competence. In short, an improvement of their personal curriculum and, therefore, of their employment possibilities. As a whole, the experience of these placements, the development of the programme and the evaluation process result will be collected in the final report, which will include a widely illustrated feature and the experiences of the implied people: students, teachers, technicians and host partners...
The main points of this final report and the participants' version of the experience will be published in education and social media of the area; for example: in the "Consell escolar"/“School representation ” (students', teachers' and parents' representatives who meet in order to discuss school issues) , in school staff meetings, other schools, media, etc... with the students as the main characters of this experience.
Industrial and Business Associations of the area will also make a profit of the result of this project, as they will have the possibility to employ better trained people who are able to work with technology different from which is usually used in Menorca. The companies and the high-school have a close relationship when dealing with employing staff, as the high-school provides well-prepared workers to the companies. The participants will increase their experience with the project, including the certifications of the company and the Europass Mobility document they get at the end in their personal curriculum.
Complete information about the development and results of these experience are published in the high-school website, the department blog and our official profile on Facebook. At the same time, the diffusion and the results are promoted among the participants and the families by means of social networks (Facebook), and also in the media; for example: the participants will be welcome by  the press and local authorities, with radio and local TV interviews to tell their experience,...

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