On the way to Malta publié le 12/06/2023

Les Grippeaux Vocational school in Parthenay has been allowing their students to go to Erasmus internships for more than 10 years. AEPA : animators working with children or elerly people, MCV : shop-assistants in Spain : in Barcelona or in Malaga ; cooks and waiters in Ireland and in Bilbao in starred restaurants. However all the educative team really wants that all students can have the oportunity to go on a work placement abroad. That is why the teachers, the direction of the school have looked for a solution for the electricians and the care assistants to enjoy this opportunity. The ASSP classes began with an e-Twinning project with Croatia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain about Healthy food. The electricians (MELEC) really wanted to have an internship abroad.

Electrician students rarely have the opportunity to go on holidays with their families or go to internships far from their homes. That is why it is important to prepare them to be flexible and accept to work everywhere. So the Erasmus team compared all that the Erasmus companies suggested : workplaces and host families. We also checked that all the BTEC national curriculum was respected. We finally decided to work with « Breakaway » a reliable company which can find suitable work placements in Malta where there are a lot of sites under construction and many shops for tourists.
As the electrician students are only studying English, to be selected they wrote a Europass cv, a Europass cover letter and filled a form about their motivation in English. The teachers also worked with the students during AP sessions to help them be ready : talking English at work and in everyday life situations.

« Breakway » partners talked twice to the students on a videoconference. The first videoconference was like a job interview in French and English and then the partners gave them information about transport, families, companies and the way of life (for example water in Malta is not drinkable). Parents also came to prepare the internship with them.
So the 6 electrician students left at the end of February with their English and electricity teachers

. Some of them took the plane for the first time

. They worked in different buildings and their tasks were to do wiring, plugging, doing all the electrical installation in a block of flats. It was really interesting because Malta has the same electrical system as in England.

They also had many cultural places to visit and discover like Valetta, L-Imdina (the ancient capital), beautiful beaches, the port of Marsaxlokk

and tasted culinary specialities. They spoke English all the time in host families, in the companies as well of course.
They came back from Malta more mature, autonomous, ready to work or travel in another country. They had a very good mark for their mobility exam. A video report has been showed to the open day visitors and for the Erasmus day. The impact on the reputation of the school is important and many students said that they wanted to join Les Grippeaux vocational school, because they would like to have the opportunity to go to workplacements abroad.

https://podeduc.apps.education.fr/video/20147-erasmus-2023-maltemp4/