The secondary school is located in the rural area of Belleville, in the heart of the Beaujolais region in the Rhône-Alpes. Our school is situated at a European crossroads, an area which thrives in terms of both economy and tourism. Our ‘lycée polyvalent’ (a secondary school which caters for both vocational and academic subjects) offers students an education in general, technical and professional fields. Our project will concern 36 students who are studying for the Baccalauréat in either catering or administration. The steering committee is constituted of teachers of vocational subjects , English teachers, an history teacher and the financial secretary. Our students must undertake 22 weeks of job experience over the course of three years. It will be truly enriching for the students to carry out one of the job experiences abroad. Our objectives are : - European Citizenship, awareness and democracy: -To develop amongst our students a feeling of belonging to the European Union; -To discover another culture, to contribute to social cohesion; -To discover and learn different working techniques and how other businesses function; -To create a network of contacts in the host country. Teaching and learning foreign languages: -To give a sense of learning a ‘living’ language and to deepen the students’ linguistic competence in preparation for their future career. Regional extent and cooperation : -To create a network of partners linked with our vocational subjects for both our regional sector and that of the collaborating country. -To cooperate with a sector which exports the label “Bistrot Beaujolais” abroad. -To reinforce cooperation between the world of education and the world of work; -To create a recruitment pool of qualified young people who have the capacity to respond to the expectations of regional businesses and therefore to develop their employability. This project allows us to work towards two important goals of the lycée : to combat students dropping out of school early and to offer exposure to international experiences. Our project is spread across 24 months. Our wish is to send a group of students during the school year 2014-2015 and another group the following year. Each group is made up of students from catering and administration classes. To select the participants, we have established a very precise list of criteria (involvement in the activities, commitment to their English lessons, ability to adapt to independence and to the necessary responsibilities required for a stay abroad, motivation, diligence,…) Since this is our first project of this kind, we saw fit to call upon “Totnes European School”. This intervening organisation selects host families as well as businesses, resolves problems of discipline and adaptation to the country and monitors the work experience of each student. It also coordinates a week of vocational English classes. The work experience abroad will be preceded and followed by internal or external activities at the school in liaison with partners in the area. While abroad, the students will be supervised by the intervening agency and the French teachers. The first week of the programme will comprise of professional English lessons and cultural visits organised by the students. During the following three weeks, the students will complete their work placement. To manage this project to the best of our ability we have adhered to the following: -Put in place a steering committee, with a defined role for each person; -Listed the different stages of planning; -Approached partners in our region and in that of the host country; -Established a provisional budget; -Listed the inherent constraints of the project; -Enquired into the estimated cost of potential intervening agencies to grasp an understanding of funds (roles and tasks). In addition to the development of linguistic competence and skills to help in the acquisition of a diploma, this experience will allow students to develop their adaptability to new environments, to reinforce their feeling of membership in the European Union, to give added meaning to their chosen path, and inspire them to either continue their studies or enter into their working life. Furthermore, the ownership of the EUROPASS will enable students to consider jobs abroad. As far as the school is concerned, the grant will strengthen our vocational department and reinforce our involvement in the overall mission of the lycée, which promotes cultural and international exposure. It will also bring together the teams of teachers involved in the project and establish a partnership between the school and the professional working world. Overall, our school, thanks to different contacts and to communication surrounding the project, can be recognised as a partner resource. This grant would bring us financial support, attract more students to the program, and legitimise the beginning of EURO class.