The Erasmus+ lifecycle: from educational experiences abroad to full-time employment
Doncaster College has a long history of helping learners achieve their goals by giving them opportunities they may not otherwise have access to. Having benefitted from European funding for many years, including through programmes such as Leonardo, they have been able to build upon previous projects to create their current TRADES 5 vocational education and training mobility project. This gives learners the opportunity to go abroad and complete a two-week work placement in their chosen field. The success of the project can be seen in the participants' personal experiences.
Going full circle
Chloe Palmer, is just one of many former students the project has helped.
"In 2015, I took part in an educational overseas visit to Linkoping, Sweden with Doncaster College through the Erasmus+ project," she said. "I saw this visit as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and ensured I put my utmost effort into being selected to be one of the four learners to take part. I was ecstatic when I learned that I would be travelling to another country to carry out work experience, this gave me a fantastic opportunity to gain more knowledge surrounding the animal care industry abroad and also gain an insight into the Swedish culture.
"On returning from Sweden, I carried on my studies with a great deal of motivation and inspiration from my travels; I completed my qualification and went on to find work within Doncaster College teaching the very subject I had previously been studying. I will now be accompanying four learners to Sweden on an overseas educational visit as their supervising member of staff in April 2018.
"I am extremely thankful to have had the chance to revisit the very place I travelled to for work experience as an Animal Care learner. I cannot describe the impact that the overseas visit has had on my own career.
I would strongly urge anybody to take part in a visit like this if they have the chance. The experience which can be gained could be invaluable to your personal development and future career goals.
Embracing employability
Doncaster College is situated in an area with decreasing job opportunities, higher than average levels of unemployment and poor progression to higher level qualifications. As such, improving the employability skills of the learners is a high priority for the college and something they feel they are able to do through their Erasmus+ TRADES projects. As part of the current TRADES 5 and future TRADES 6 projects, they will have provided over 110 learners with the opportunity to complete a work placement abroad.
Linda Sykes, International Co-ordinator at the college, said: "It gives them something to put on their CV, something to talk about at interview and it’s recognised as they have the Europass at the end of their placement. I do believe it gives them a real boost when it comes to looking for work after college.
"One childcare student who went to Sweden was then accepted at the prestigious Norland College, his Erasmus+ experience provided him with something to talk about at his interview. Working abroad, even for a short period of time, is a brilliant selling point when it comes to an interview."
Enviable impact
Linda also sees the general positive influence on learners: "We see a big impact on confidence. A lot of the students here have never travelled abroad, so even leaving the country is a big deal for them. There was one learner on the last Sweden trip who had never flown before and he was terrified but he was so proud of himself once he had done it, it was a great achievement.
There’s a lot for the students to be proud of; not only have they travelled to another country, they have also worked there for two weeks. I think it definitely increases their confidence and broadens their horizons.
The impact of these projects is not going unnoticed by the rest of the college. "It really is creating quite a buzz," said Linda. "So far we have just organised placements in a couple of countries – Sweden and Spain - but we are trying to develop the project now so that we can go to more countries and get more curriculum areas involved, as more staff and students are showing an interest in these projects. We are hoping to expand our partners across Europe in order to accommodate the level of interest."
Top tip
Linda's top tip for colleges starting their Erasmus+ journey is: "Share information within the college as widely as possible. We’re realising that we need to make information available directly to the students.
"In the past, we relied on curriculum leads sharing the information with the students, and largely that’s been successful, but we do have students coming to us afterwards saying they would have liked to take part once it’s too late, so we realise it hasn’t reached every student. So next academic year, we’re looking to hold a big event for all the students so we can get this information to them directly which will allow them to be proactive in putting themselves forward for the international opportunities available through the college."
Interested in embracing employability in your organisation? Find out more about employability in Erasmus+ at Learning Networks!
