The Hotel and Catering department of Polis Technical school in cooperation with Riga Technical School of Tourism and Creative Industry in Latvia will organise a two week training and work placement in an accredited hotel in Riga Latvia from the end of September until the beginning of October. A group of fifteen students and two Hotel and Catering instructors of Polis Secondary Technical School will participate in the program. The reason we want to carry out this project is to help students acquire and improve their skills in cooking and restaurant methods of service in accredited Latvian hotels in a new environment away from home helping then to develop European identity. The main issues and needs we are seeking to address through this project are the following: Enhance the vocational training experiences of students on Hotel and Catering courses by using transnational mobility through European work placements. The objectives for our students attending the program are to: • Develop their professional skills in Latvia's cuisine and restaurant. • Develop their professional skills in cooking and restaurant method of service. • Develop European identity. • Enrich their linguistic competence in professional field. • Develop their vocational skills and improve employment and employability skills; • Enrich their cultural awareness and broaden their horizons. • Improve personal development. • Develop skills to cope with multicultural environments • Promote professional growth through innovative growth. • Attain Knowledge and skills in safe food production • Attain Knowledge and skills in restaurant and Kitchen management. • Develop more competence, improve their self esteem and undertake initiative. • Introduce themselves to alternative career opportunities either in Cyprus or in the rest of European Union. • Enable our students to acquire experiences in other European hotel and catering environments with new methods of work. • Cooperate positively within the work environment with other European people. The participants are full – time students of the the Hotel and Catering department of Polis Technical school. They attend a three year Hotel and Catering course combining restaurant and kitchen operation. They have a significant background in theoretical and practical experience in school workshops. These students (aged 16-18) are taught a variety of Hotel and Catering modules and subjects such as: Cooking, Restaurant service, Food Hygiene, Bar and drinks preparation and service, Professional Ethics, Food Technology, Wine making and service, Food costing, Food commodities, Nutrition and Catering Technology. Their syllabus requires a 20 week practical training in high class hotel establishments. The group will have three cultural days. They will visit some historical momuments, museums and the most interesting places in Riga and the surrounding area. During the cultural days some students and a teacher of the receiving organisation will escort us giving us all necessary information concerning the places we are visiting. Schedule of the training period in Latvia hotels: 1st Week Kitchen placement. During the training in the kitchen students should: 1. Prepare food for cooking. 2. Cook meals and breakfast items according to the recipes of the establishment. 3. Carve meat, decorate plates and platters with food. 4. Make sauces and garnishes. 5. Observe and record new recipes. 2nd Week Restaurant placement. During the training in the restaurant students should: 1. Prepare restaurant for service. 2. Take food and beverage orders 3. Serve food and beverages in restaurants. 4. Receive money and register payments. 5. Observe and record new trends. The benefits for our Hotel and Catering departments have been enormous. We will prepare and present a seminar on the findings of our visit to the rest of our colleagues in Cyprus. During the presentation we will refer to the benefits of such programs for the academic and professional advancement of our students. We further, will encourage more teachers to be involved in such programs. The program beneficiaries will also prepare and present a Latvian night with modern and traditional Latvian food. The cooperation among the Lyceum and Technical School of Polis Chrysochous and Riga Technical School of Tourism and Creative Industry has reciprocal advantages which will be strengthened by a long term exchange of information and cooperation between educational institutions and in grater extent between European countries. A better understanding of different way of thinking, culture and customs will be develop between the two partners. Also a professional personal relations will be created through the program and a new strong bond will be establish between the two project partners with many perspectives for future cooperation between the two schools contributing towards the two countries trans-national capacity.