For more than a decade, both INSIGNARE’s Schools have been providing curricular internships for their 2nd and 3rd year students in an international environment, currently supported by the Erasmus+ program, as they were by its predecessor Leonardo da Vinci. Thus, 3rd year students leave every year for several European cities at the end of April and return at the end of July, for a total of 3 months, while 2nd year students complete the two months in June and July. They are housed in fully furnished apartments or academic residences, with the help of our local partners, who, in addition to accommodation, place them in companies suited to their area of training, their age and their personal profile. This year, companies are located in Germany, Spain, France and Italy. They leave in groups, accompanied by a teacher, who stays with them for the first few days, helping them with the integration of the city and the first visit to the internship site.

After this period, the students begin to develop the main personal skills that the Schools are aiming for:

– Personal autonomy, as it is up to them to take care of their clothes and food, share household chores with their colleagues, manage problems that arise, …;

– The sense of responsibility from going to the internship site on time, on foot or by public transport; carrying out the tasks assigned to them there quickly and correctly;

– To filling out all the necessary national and European documentation;

– Financial management, as they have to plan and administer their monthly grant, which is transferred to them at the beginning of each month, to meet the expenses they will incur during that period;

– However, it should be noted that their accommodation has already been paid for in advance by INSIGNARE;

– Language development, as participants attend free online training at their own pace in the language of their destination country, from before departure until the end of their stay.

– The cultural knowledge of the city / region where they are inserted, since it is mandatory that they plan and make visits to monuments, museums and other similar places, and put what they learn there in a report;

– The understanding of European citizenship, i.e. the possibility of seeing the European Union as a work and residence market, as several are offered the possibility of working in these countries at the end of their 3rd year internship, or the advantage of free access to health care in these cities, as they are holders of the European Health Insurance Card, which equates them to national citizens. The increase in technical skills is the third major advantage;

– The participants apply the skills learned during their time at the Schools, adapting them to the new business reality where they are;

– As a result of this reality, and after a period of mutual adaptation, they also begin to learn new skills and practical knowledge, new methodologies, new techniques, new tools, new products, …, which they bring to our reality. The success of these experiences is enormous and is demonstrated vividly by the participating students over the years, and by the reports they write. It allows them to improve their CV and prepare them for more demanding environments, namely in more demanding companies.