On 4th June pupils from Erasmus + group Ready for My Future Job and pupils from 8th grade visited Slanický ostrov umenia and discover Jobs they are necessary for running this kind of tourism. At first we had discussion with the administrator of this culturar institution and the ship captain about all the jobs they have. He told us about the duties for each job they are needed. The jobs are ship captain, ship crew, tourist guid, art historien, restorer. Later we spoke with the art historien and discovered which educational path is needed for this job. On 4th June we also visited the most famous castle in Slovakia - Oravský hrad. In the information centre we talked with the staff about all the activities they prepare each year for visitors, special occations for visitors and all the jobs needed for it. The guide in the castle explained her own educational path to this job.

In partnership with the tourist office of Poitiers, we organized a meeting with a guide speaker who presented her job to La Providence Erasmus+ students.

  The guide first explained what her job consisted of:

 - Open the eyes of visitors

 - Point out certain details that the visitor would not have noticed alone.

 - Tell a story that fits in history, not a history lesson with many facts and dates, but anecdotes, tales, legends that will entertain visitors.

 She then spoke about the skills and qualities required to do this job:

 A guide must be curious, explorer, versatile and adaptable.

 He should make his group appreciate the place visited without parasitizing it, while keeping them safe all the time. He must adapt to the group according to the number of visitors, the age, the context of the visit ...),adapt to the place, the weather ...

For the practical part, the guide took the group on the ground, to the Church Notre Dame, a major symbolic element of the city of Poitiers. She showed the way of the visit, explained safety instructions, as pointing out the existence of a step so people may be careful; she showed some benevolence attitude such as holding the door, asking for silence before entering a place of worship, she insisted on the adaptation to the group, she allowed time for the eyes to adapt to the darkness of the church ... and made sure not to disturb the other visitors.

 In the church, she focused on a single work to illustrate her remarks during the theoretical part. She gathered the group around the statue of Mary holding keys: Notre Dame des clefs. She told a story, a kind of tale, the legend, the miracle of the keys of Poitiers at the time of Richard the Lion Heart. She used suspense, effects of surprise to captivate the group, and anecdotes because it’s what visitors remember the best. She also stated that the legend does not fit with the history, she explained why and the origin of this legend.

Then, the students had to play the role of a guide speaker and prepare a mini guided tour of the Church of Notre Dame La Grande Poitiers. Each pair chose an element of architecture or a statue inside the church among the following: -

 - The Baudruche statue
- St Didier reliquary bust
- The Holy Kinship
- The column with a blazon, the  broken heart column
- The inside of the bell tower
- The chapel of the madman
- The statue of Jesus entombment

 The guide gave the students some clues to help them prepare their speech:

1. Watch, observe carefully the chosen element.
2. Learn about this element (Poitiers library, internet: grandpoitiers.fr (heritage), worksheets on the website of the historic monuments of France, school library)
3. Make your script (the plot of the story that you will tell). The visit must answer the questions: who? when? How? Why?
4. Prepare yourself: tell your story aloud, train... and leave it in some place in your mind.
5. Refresh your memory on D-day
6. D-Day: Tell your story with passion, use the right tone, introduce suspense, anecdotes, add a hint of humor if possible, accompany the words with gestures to try to capture the attention of the group. Solicit several senses if possible: smell, touch, sight, hearing..

After this workshop, students had a time of documentary research at the media library.
They will present the results of their research in the form of a guided tour in a few days

After their researches and training, each pair of pupils presented to the group the statue or element of architecture trying to include what they've learned the week before, and the guide advice. It was fun!

We invited volunteer parents to present their jobs to our pupils. All the students from 4e and 3e participated in this job forum. In small groups of 5-6, they had the opportunity to meet, exchange and discuss with professionals who exercise a job they are interested in.
Professionals presented their trade and particular job, talked about the competences, skills,  study path, experience, anecdotes....

Among the jobs presented, there were architect, lawyer, judge, policeman, fireman, jeweler, dentist, IT developer, sales manager, nurse, biomedical engineer, journalist, military, sport trainer, airline pilote, cabinet maker....

After these meetings, a small group had the chance to accompany the lawyer and attend a hearing at the court.

On 3th May Erasmus + pupils visited Slovak national council in Bratislava. We met Mr Branislav Grohling the member of Slovak national council. We discussed with him about the school education, about the parliamentarians, their duties, about all the system in parlament. We also talked with his asisstant and the interpreter in European parliament about structure of EP and the job of interpreter, all the courses and certificates needed for this job.

After the job forum, a small group had the chance to accompany the lawyer and attend a hearing at the court. Photos were taken in front of the courthouse, as they were not allowed to take pictures inside.

Pupils reported they were impressed by the ceremonial of the court, the lawyers and  judge's outfits and robes, the official and solemn tone used by all the parties, the respect of speaking time, the use of particular words related to the law and the quoting of official law codes.

Below we can find some examples of tests (Gardner type tests) that our pupils done to start defining their career profile. After these tests administered, the students deepened the various job sectors and the corresponding educational pathways.

These tests were collected in a guidance diary.

Center of pedagogical and psychological guidance and prevention in Partizánske prepares for students of ninth grade tests of guidance each year. This year they wrote the test on 12th of October 2018 and 28th of November they evaluated them for pupils and their parents. These results helped them with a selection of upper secondary school.

Automotive industry is most popular in last years in Slovakia. There is a lot of job opportunities and some our students are interested in this kind of occupations. Erasmus + students and some younger students from 7th class visited on February 22nd 2019 the bigges automotive factory in Slovakia - Volswagen in Bratislava. We could see the all proces of production the car, automatization in industry and new technologies. We have collected new information about the professions involved in this process of manufacture, about the education path to them and necessary skills and abilities.

THE HEART OF COBALT ACTIVITIES IS DIGITAL WORK, INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

 Cobalt is a place for the people who are interested in digital work :

 These people usually come to Cobalt TO WORK TOGETHER, EXCHANGE, SHARE KNOWLEDGE, COMPETENCES, ORGANIZE  EVENTS, EXTEND/DEVELOP, TRAIN…

The firm hosts students, business leaders and entrepreneurs (they come to train, learn how to innovate or recruit more efficiently), startuppers (They develop their start-ups, enrich their networks), coworkers, researchers, students, citizens, job seekers who come to learn as well . There is also marketing spaces  for the organization and promotion of special events.

 Anthony, the person who welcomed us has been working there since 2017, he has a degree in economics, and a master in management. He was interested in this job to help our region, the New Aquitaine, develop and be more  attractive.

After explaining the role and aim of Cobalt business, he presented the different digital professions:

 - Developer

 - Programmer

 - Computer scientist: maintenance, programming,  development of solutions

 - Community management: work on social networks, dissemination of information

 - Graphic designer: use of digital to create and print

Then, he took a concrete example used and known by all the pupils: a WEBSITE; he explains the purpose of a website and the chain of skills needed to create one.

 - Advice and strategy

 - Project development

 - Photo, design, video

 - IT development

 - Hosting, administration and network system

 - Editorial consulting, digital logistics, referencing / web-marketing, (= being as visible as possible with as many keywords as possible), social media

 - Training

He explains the 9 digital families:

 1. Programming and development (invisible part of a site: coding), developer (web, mobile), study engineer, software architect

 2. Artificial intelligence and data (database administrator, data analyst, data scientist ...)

 3. User interface / creation

 4. Communication and marketing (community media manager, digital marketer, referral load, traffic analyst, etc.)

 5. Trade (responsible for customer ...)

 6. Infrastructures, cloud, networks and data centers (technician, engineer, network and cloud architect ...)

 7. Maintenance and assistance

 8. Expertise and advice (responsible cyber security, consultant.

9. Management  and strategy (project manager, team manager, information systems director, strategy manager ..)

This was an interesting view of digital jobs quite different from what the pupils had in mind. They could understand the difficulty and complexity in the creation and maintenance of a website, such a common thing they use every day. And a lot of jobs were absolutely unknown for them and have hopefully given them some new ideas about their future. 

The UIMM (Union of metallurgical and mining industries) of Poitiers is a training centre of technological industries that trains trainees and apprentices (from professional BAC to engineer)

 The trainer, Mr. Brillaud, explainss the work/study training program (sandwich courses) and the role of  a technician or maintenance worker in charge of maintaining the machines and robots while using new technologies.

 Visit of the workshop and tries on tool machines and robots:

 An industrial treadmill allows a good training in maintenance,  trainers can for example, create breakdowns in the electric cabinet in order to train apprentices to solve them. The treadmill takes a box and several tubes, the tubes are filled with marbles. The articulated arm puts the tubes in the box and the treadmill brings the finished product to a given point

 The training centre has a work room where apprentices in electricity can train on domestic or industrial installations (connections, switchboard, sockets...).  For electricity, there is a high voltage transformer like those that could be found in power stations, so that students can train on a situation that could happen. This is only a training tool, so there is little danger for apprentices.

 Robots are also present in the workshop, we observed programmable robots: their speed and movements are adjustable. These robots evolve in time thanks to a growing number of sensors. Today, humans can work with robots without danger, if a person presses on the articulated arm, it stops immediately, and this ensures safety for the worker.

 We also tried to control a miniature robot, replica of the robots in the Futuroscope attraction dance with robots.  Safety rules must be followed to avoid injuries. We tried to handle them directing an articulated arm to drill a balloon. We found activity quite easy. New technologies make work easier.

 We discovered virtual reality, we used headphones and joysticks. This showed us the evolution of different technologies. At the UIMM, they are talking about creating a training course available in virtual reality. This is an interesting development, especially when the activity is dangerous, it allows manipulating objects without taking risks, and thus helps reducing injuries.

 Tablets are available to help understand how the machines work.

Industry is the design and production of goods with tools of today and tomorrow!

 The nuclear power plant in Civaux is a protected and very secure industrial site. The reservation was made 3 months in advance, and the identity documents of each visitor were sent 1 month in advance.

On May 10, we are greeted at the energy space of the plant by 2 guides:

 Visit of the pedagogical area: cranking, or pedaling, exposure and explanation of the means to produce electricity.

 In the Conference room, the guide explains how a power plant works, she uses diagrams and photos.

 Uranium is extracted, processed and enriched; then it is used as fuel and loaded into the reactor; it allows nuclear fission and a chain reaction that frees energy and heats the water. In the primary circuit the water reaches 320 degrees, and then the secondary circuit transforms it into steam which rotates the turbine of the alternator. This movement generates electricity.  The cooling pools around the reactors are barriers to radioactivity. The cooling system (chimneys) is used to transform the steam into water which is rejected in the Vienne.

There are 19 nuclear 2nd generation power plants in France. The 1st generation power plants have been destroyed.

Comparison of fossil fuels with renewable energies such as solar panels. Comparison between raw resources and natural resources (wind, Sun)

 The EDF plant of Civaux consists of 2 production units: the first was started in 1997 and the 2nd in 1999. The 2 towers need  1m3 of water per second to ensure the cooling of the turbines; This water is taken from the Vienne river. The reactors have a power of 1450 mega watt each. The impact of the plant is important on an  economic level: 1200 employees in all + 800 during standstill period.

Visit of the control room Simulator (the brain of the plant): This is the training location for operators (BAC + 5 level)

 Operator presence in the control room is compulsory: 8h in a row (the 3 operators take over the 3 x 8 hours and everything runs from the control room.

There's a team of 20 people running on the control room. The operator also needs a field agent who is in contact with the site (level BAC + 2; BTS) + training of 18 months possible if he wishes to become an operator one day.

 Description of the command room Simulator:

 It is a huge room with several computers and a very large screen with the luminous traces of all the circuits of the plant.

Operators cannot leave the room during their time of attendance, they must know how to work in a  team, they stop and start the plant every 16 months, to change the fuels, every 36 months for the partial visit and every 10 years, for the visit and complete overhaul of the facilities. (2 days to stop the power plant and 3 days to restart it.) They must know all the procedures in case of an incident, or in case of emergency. Operators return to training on simulators every 2 years. They re-pass tests and do not have the right to error otherwise they are recycled on another post.

 Operators may have been field agents or engineers and then have evolved to the operator position

If computers fail, the operator must know the procedures or know where to find them quickly on the paper workbooks, and must know how to control the unit manually, He must be able to make an emergency decision and cut the plant ( emergency stop button that cuts all circuits in 2 seconds). There is a retreat room near the control room. There are 70 trades within a central (administrative, technical, engineering…)

We continue our visit: the controls are very present and very strict in the enclosure of the plant that makes 156 hectares and that works as a mini City: electric cars, audio-guides to hear what our guide tells us because the machines are noisy. We have badges and individual codes to pass the security gates. We cannot take pictures, tests of explosives are made randomly in the group, radioactivity checks are carried out at the entrance and exit of the site.

 We visit the demineralization site which allow to avoid the oxidation of the pipes in the circuit; our guide explains the processing of liquid and solid wastes; We see the combustion turbine, emergency unit in case of breakdown or problem, and the building a seismic independent unit to meet the new standards since the Fukushima nuclear accident, it will house another emergency engine fueled  by diesel , able to take over the cooling of the turbines in the event of an accident and an electrical outage.

The Civaux plant produces about 20 million megawatt hours per year and feeds the whole region of new Aquitaine.

The pupils of Erasmus + group from Slovakia visited the Nuclear Power Plant in Mochovce. We could learn about sources of energy, about energy and directly about the jobs connected with the Nuclear Power Station, not only in Slovakia but generally in Europe. The guide explained us how the nuclear reactor was working , how the nuclear waste was stored. He told us about the education path needed to be a nuclear engineer and about career advancement in power plants. The nuclear engineer has a big responsibility, thus big demands are placed on him.

ERASMUS +READY FOR MY FUTURE JOB

Parents and teachers meeting at “GIOVANNI XXIII“SCHOOL

Parents have been invited to let  them have all the  necessary information about the Project “READY FOR MY FUTURE JOB” their children have  been involved to.

After the  teachers explained the various steps and activities they answered the parents’ questions and there was an interesting discussion that focused on the great opportunity our school and students will get thanks to the Erasmus Project.