ERASMUS POLICY STATEMENT
I.OVERALL STRATEGY
The Accreditation of the ECHE is for Centro Integrado Cuatrovientos a keystone in the implementation of its Internationalization and Modernisation Strategy. As stated in our Mission we are a Higher VET organisation managed by a cooperative of professionals whose aim is the integral training of people, offering the best opportunities to enter the social and labour world through an educational model based on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, and Commitment, as well as on equal opportunities (including equity, inclusion and non discrimination). Our institution´s objectives regarding Erasmus are focused on the following areas:
1.Participation in European mobility projects both for students and for staff, involving the companies and other organisations, to improve technical, language, inter-cultural and soft skills in the participants.
2.Participation in volunteering programmes to promote not only mobility but also, solidarity, tolerance and social inclusion. Our aim is to create opportunities for our students to take part in projects that benefit communities at an international level.
3.Collaboration with other European organisations to set up alliances and synergies and cooperate in the benefit of a new European social and economic model based on solidarity and sustainability aligned with the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
4.Modernisation and improvement of our education and training system, looking for new methodologies and scenarios in pursuit of educational excellence. Cuatrovientos would like to collaborate with the European Education Area initiatives to offer students the best training and employment opportunities. These would include apart from mobility experiences, promotion of key competences and digital skills, qualifications recognition and inclusive education.
II.IMPLEMENTATION OF ERASMUS+ ACTIVITIES IN THE INSTITUTION
Our Internationalization and modernisation strategy is based on the above three main objectives and the Erasmus programme will enable us to achieve them by implementing the following actions:
1.Participation in KA103, KA102, KA116 projects offering students and graduates internships and work experience opportunities and managing job-shadowing programmes for teachers and other staff.
We will apply and manage mobility projects both for staff and students.
The KA103, KA102 and KA116 will enable us to manage mobility projects for internships both for outgoing and incoming students. The European projects team in collaboration with the managing team will ensure a suitable host institution and will support participants with preparation, accommodation, insurance, transport, monitoring and recognition, to ensure the fulfilment of the programme. We will also encourage the staff participation which has been a priority in the last years, identifying first the needs of our school and pursuing the excellence in the teaching and learning process that we are offering to our students and graduates.
2.Participation of volunteering programmes in collaboration with some NGOs at a local (ATTsF, ACT,CEAR, Alboan, Setem, Intermon Oxfam) and also at an international level (Oxfam International, Enable Ireland, SVP) in the UK, Ireland and the Sahara camps. We would like to extend our field of action through the European Solidarity Corps initiatives and obtain the Quality Label Accreditation.
3.Participation in KA202 projects for Strategic Partnerships for the exchange of good practices, searching institutional and also participants´ professional development through projects dealing with sustainability, innovation, digitalisation, key competences or new methodologies. Cuatrovientos has taken part in several European TCAs in the framework of mobility quality, ECVETS and work-based programmes. We would like to take part in KA2 projects as we are looking for collaboration opportunities which result in improving the VET and High VET systems at a local, national and European level. The last KA202 application has to do with climate change, sustainability and inclusion and our objective is to cause curricula updates on this topic so we can prepare future professionals for the new social and economic European model.
4.Participation in eTwinning to promote collaborative learning practices with staff and students, find partners for Erasmus projects, carry out activities within KA2 projects and foster a sense of European citizenship in the participants. Cuatrovientos has just been awarded the eTwinning School Label and would like to be a point of reference for other VET and High VET organizations.
5.Implementation of collaborative methodologies (project-based learning, peer-learning, Learning and Service, workshops, virtual projects), work-based programmes, new bilingual contents and curricula updates based on innovation, entrepreneurship, commitment and internationalization. Cuatrovientos is collaborating in the development of a Project Based Learning methodology (KIMUA programme certification) with Navarra Government as the best way to stimulate problem solving, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, teamwork or communication skills.
All these actions will be carried out in the framework of our overall institutional strategy as Internationalization is a strategic objective in Cuatrovientos. The ECHE accreditation will mean the reinforcement of the Internationalization strategy and the best way to increase the professional, social and intercultural skills and employability of all individuals, including those with fewer opportunities
III.IMPACT OF THE ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME IN THE INSTITUTION
The impact of the participation of our institution in the Erasmus Programme affects not only the participants but also the educational community as a whole, the families, the partner companies and other collaborating organizations.
The greatest impact in our school has to do with the consolidation of Cuatrovientos´ internationalization strategy benefiting from the networks established during the mobilities, volunteering programmes, eTwinning projects and strategic partnerships. Also, thanks to the dissemination of international activities, there will be a significant percentage of students who will want to study in our institution due to the implementation of international and innovative projects, as it has been happening along the last years.
About the participants, the main impact will be linked to the improvement in their employability and with their incorporation into local and also European companies. Cuatrovientos Job Placement Office carried out a study of the impact of Erasmus in participants and there is a clear connection between Erasmus trainees and employability, language certifications and lifelong learning. Moreover, Erasmus participation will result in:
–The reinforcement of their key competences developed in their studies as higher technicians, which have to do with teamwork, problem-solving or entrepreneurship (included in the study plans and the correspondent evaluations)
-The updating of their knowledge regarding digital skills (we carried out the SELFIE survey and will keep doing it as an efficient self-assessment tool)
-The acquisition of intercultural skills (participants value highly the development of intercultural skills in their final reports)
-The reinforcement of professional skills linked to their degree and based on the Diploma Supplement (shown in their employability opportunities registered by the school Job Placement office)
-The improvement of language skills in the framework of the CEFR (an increasing number of students and staff are enrolled in language preparatory courses for official certifications)
Outside our organisation, the fact that one of Cuatrovientos´ strategic lines is the establishment of synergies and networks with other institutions expands the impact of Erasmus on a large scale. We will participate in exchanges of good practices events (TCAs, Seminars, eTwinning meetings…) and will collaborate to build closer links and share experiences with other VET schools, collaborating companies or associated partners to promote and explore on curricula updates, recognition systems, host companies´ suitability and possibilities of finding future partners for internships and job-shadowing.
Cuatrovientos has long experience in applying quality management systems (EFQM, Advanced Management System). The Internationalization project is part of the overall institutional strategy so the selection, preparation, monitoring and recognition of participants is perfectly processed and systematized within our quality standards. It is a regular practice for us to use perception and performance indicators that measure the achievement of the objectives. These indicators are those of the Internationalization Project, the Teaching-Learning Process and the Job Placement Service.
About recognition systems, the personal and professional development of the participants will be evaluated with the Europass Certificate that establishes the professional and also personal and social competences that have been acquired during the internship and the evaluation by their host tutors. The learning outcomes corresponding to the “On the Job Training Module” are recognised with the accreditation of the ECTs by Cuatrovientos as the sending institution.
The consolidation of new collaboration networks will be evaluated as part of our Internationalization Strategy which is integrated in the Ongoing Improvement system of Cuatrovientos. Every year we do an assessment of the actions and results of international activities to establish areas of improvement and to set out some lines of action for the coming annual plan, taking the following indicators as a reference: number of interinstitutional agreements signed, number of new collaborating schools, companies or NGOs, number of new eTwinning projects and partner schools, numbers of students and staff taking part in
