Exploring ECVET in Leonardo Mobility – an Expert’s view

Every year we fund UK organisations to send vocational trainees to undertake work placements in another European country.  Thanks to Leonardo Mobility funding, thousands of participants have benefitted from a period abroad. This experience is often life-changing for participants as it can boost their confidence, independence and open their eyes to new opportunities. But what about participants’ professional skills, how can these be recognised?

Recognising Learning

The European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) is a set of principles that can be used in any overseas work or volunteering placement. It aims to help recognise the skills that a participant has gained so that they can count towards a qualification in their home country. You may have read our ‘Using ECVET in Leonardo Mobility‘ post that explained how you can implement ECVET principles.

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Sharing Your Success Stories

We do really enjoy hearing from our projects, particularly when it’s good news! We have recently been sent updates by two colleges whose Leonardo achievements have been recognised with external commendations. We thought you might like to hear about them too…

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Using ECVET in Leonardo Mobility

You may have read our recent post about the free help and support available to organisations to understand ECVET (European Credit system for Vocational Education & Training). Last month eight organisations running Leonardo Mobility projects attended a free workshop in Birmingham, organised as part of ECVET Experts, to find out how they can recognise their learners’ achievements using ECVET principles.These are largely students involved in initial vocational training or work-based learning. Anyone involved in Leonardo Mobility can use ECVET principles in their projects. Read the rest of this entry »


Thematic Networking: Learning From Each Other

Recently we wrote about our  forthcoming Thematic Networking event. At each of these events we invite a range of decision-makers and education professionals from across the UK to attend and look in detail at recent policy developments during the day.

As part of each event we hold a series of workshop sessions that look, in detail, at four cross-cutting themes. The discussions during these workshops will inform future decisions with the wider professional networks of the group, both in the UK and across Europe. While attendance at these events is by invitation only, everyone who recieves funding from our projects can still get involved by reading, and disseminating, the outcomes from the event. Read the rest of this entry »


Thematic Networking event: active citizenship, employability and an ageing UK

You may have read Emma’s recent post on Older People’s Day on the 1 October and the European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012). What does an ageing population mean to the UK? What does it mean for employability and active citizenship? Our next Thematic Networking event will look into this topic in more detail from a UK perspective.

The forthcoming event, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on the 29 November, will bring together over 60 policy makers and Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) project practitioners. Delegates will have the opportunity to hear from Brian Keating, from the Department for Work and Pensions , on work currently being undertaken on active ageing by the UK Government. Read the rest of this entry »


Erasmus for All…..MEPs propose a new name

The European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee met on the 19 September to discuss the Erasmus for All report compiled by Doris Pack, Chair of the Committee.  The report sets out some significant changes and recommendations to the Commissions current proposal for the next generation of programmes.

The name ‘Erasmus for All’ has always been unpopular with the Committee.  As part of her work, Doris Pack asked the European Commission to suggest a new name and this was put forward for the first time during the meeting – Youth, Education and Sport Europe – ‘YES Europe’. The proposed new name received overall support from the Committee.

Doris Pack gave clarification on some of the recommendations outlined in the report, this included: Read the rest of this entry »


Share ‘Your Story’ in the Lifelong Learning Programme competition – one week left to enter!

Time is running out to submit your entry for our Lifelong Learning Programme and Youth in Action competition. It is a chance for you to share ‘Your Story’ through film, photos and words.  Open to organisations and individuals, you can share what the involvement in these programmes has meant to you.

How to enter

It’s easy to enter. You can submit a story, portfolio of photos or a film through the competition website at www.competition.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk

With prizes of up to £250 in Amazon vouchers and the chance to see your stories in print and online, it’s a great opportunity to share your experience with others.

After inspiration?

Last year we created a series of blog posts to help you create your entry, why not take a look at these and get inspired.

You can also have a look at last year’s winners in our previous blog post: http://llpukecorys.com/2011/11/30/showcasing-your-success/

Make sure you submit your entry by midnight on the 28 September. Good luck!


2012 Information Days – register to attend today!

I can’t quite believe it is already a year since we were promoting the last round of Information Days – just where does the time go? We saw a record number of organisations attending the events last year, and for those of you that attended we hope that you developed a successful application.

A really useful event, allowed me to gain first hand knowledge of the way into funding has changed recently, also a great opportunity to network and make some new links

Really enjoyed the case studies which provided me with some inspiration and ideas for my project

Feedback from participants of the 2011 Information Days

Why attend?

If you are new to the Lifelong Learning Programme and considering submitting an application for funding under the Leonardo, Grundtvig or Transversal programmes, these are ‘must go’ events. They will really help you make sense of all of the opportunities available and you will walk away with a clear picture of what you can do, and the steps you need to take to be successful. They are equally applicable if you have some knowledge of our programmes, maybe as a previous project participant, but want to learn a bit more about the other opportunities available to you.

This year there will be a packed agenda, with presentations, taster sessions and interactive workshops to choose from. As always the Ecorys team will be on-hand to give advice, guidance and support.

Register your place today

Places at the events are limited, so make sure you don’t miss out by booking your place today. You can register your place at our events through any of the following pages:

http://www.leonardo.org.uk/informationdays

http://www.grundtvig.org.uk/informationdays

http://www.transversal.org.uk/informationdays

Meeting with us at our Information Days really is the best way to find out more but for those who are unable to join us we will upload our presentations from the events onto the website. These will be available in December for you to download.

Best of luck with your application for funding. Please let us know how you get on by tweeting @llpukecorys using #llpinfoday, emailing us  at llpblog@uk.ecorys.com or commenting on this post.


The new European Encyclopaedia on National Education Systems

Whether you are looking to understand a specific education system or to analyse an education issue at European level, Eurypedia will provide you with the most exhaustive information on the systems currently in operation across Europe.

The online resource is a great way for you to build your knowledge and learn about recent reforms.  It provides an accurate picture of education across Europe and contains more than 5,000 articles that cover 38 school and university systems within the 33 countries participating in the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme (all Member States as well as Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey).

The website is easy to navigate and is searchable by topics areas , giving you the ability to filter by country. For example you can explore adult education systems in Finland, quality assurance systems in Spain or specific social and economic trends for a specific country. You can also access key legislations information and ongoing reforms and policy developments.  Visit the Eurypedia website to explore the resource further.

Eurypedia is a wiki-based tool and its articles are drafted and published directly by the Eurydice National Units, in collaboration with their respective education Ministries and national experts.

Find out more about Eurydice Network

The Eurydice Network is a European-wide information provider on education, analysing European education systems and policies and contributing to spreading knowledge in the field. As of 2011, it consists of 37 national units based in all 33 countries participating in the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme.  It is coordinated and managed by the EU Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in Brussels, which drafts its studies and provides a range of online resources.


Enhance your CPD with European funding

At the last Thematic Networking Event in Belfast, Thematic Networking Group (TNG) 2 discussed the findings of the Briefing Paper exploring how the LLP supports Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in the Further Education (FE) sector. TNG 2 members, including the chair of the group, Faye Hindle-Lewis, and myself did not expect to learn that every year the Leonardo, Grundtvig and Transversal programmes fund around three years of CPD time for FE staff across the UK! Read the rest of this entry »


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