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Immersion Professionnelle Scotland 2016
Start date: Jun 1, 2015, End date: May 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Feed-back on the project, entitled "Immersion Professionnelle Scotland 2016" undertaken by Jean Paul II Institution, Dampierre private high school in Valenciennes, Northern France. The project-aim was to develop professional, cultural and linguistic skills for its vocational Catering section in order to foster the professional mobility of students and match the expectations of today's labour market : qualification, self-involvement, skills, mobility. Ten students in their last year of Catering Vocational Education were first meant to go, but only eight experienced the mobility. Three students stepped back for different grounds: change of educational program for apprenticeship, preference for a long destination trip organized by a sporting club in a non-school setting and a deep feeling of insecurity following the attacks of November 2015. Conversely, one student stepped forward to take up the challenge and benefit from a foreign professional immersion in the cultural environment of Scotland. Two teachers were responsible for this very first mobility. One was on spot permanently due to three minors in the group, and a cook teacher came to assess the students during the last week. As far as learners were concerned, they did a four-week professional training in Edinburgh prestigious establishments: The Balmoral Hotel, The Waldorf Astoria, l’Escargot Blanc. They also enjoyed cultural visits (Museum of Scotland, a distillery, the Scottish Parliament House…), professional ones (Collin & Son’s seafood exporter, Herbal secret garden, Tom Kitchin restaurant…) and culinary workshops within host families. The project organization started long ago, with the beginning of the curriculum, stretching over a period of two years and a half. It included a C.L.I.L. (Content and Language Integrated Learning) program within the emerging European section. Teachers were in charge of the administrative work in partnership with Vincent Guérin (FLAIR), the European Union -through the Erasmus+ program which financially allows this mobility- and Nord-Pas de Calais region. Among all the outcomes for students, many are already positive in terms of language, openness to the world and career; the opportunity to move and enter prestigious places has expanded professional interests. But even if we need to admit we still lack perspective, we are sure that the mobility will have been fully beneficial for future job applications and recruitments. As for the school, an article has been released both on local newspapers and on the web. Thanks to the project implementation a second teacher is training to take the exam which, if he succeeds, would allow Dampierre school to open an official C.L.I.L. section in the future. Consequently, school enrollment should follow. We now hope that the participating students will come back to us and give a positive testimony of their first steps as employees in order to help motivating future students. Eventually, let’s mention that the project has helped creating a positive environment in the school, changing attitudes and validating good teaching practice.
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