In June, we attended our third transnational meeting with our SEPLO project partners. The meeting was hosted by our Danish partners, Celf, in Nykøbing Falster, an island in the south of Denmark. You can read more about the meeting itself on our project website.
We were also lucky enough to have a tour of Celf, and learn about how the VET system works for their learners. Celf deliver training in several vocational areas, including hospitality (cookery, baking, butchery), and mechanics (repairs to cars, motorbikes and boat engines). This also includes a bicycle workshop where the learners can design and build a bike from scratch, as well as doing servicing/repairs. We also visited the construction workshops, where students focus on bricklaying, carpentry and plumbing to name a few.
Learners split their time between the College and then complete an apprenticeship on placement. Most learners complete their apprenticeship locally or regionally, but some carry theirs out overseas (mainly Germany, with a few in the UK and the Ukraine).
For those unable to secure an apprentice within a company, Celf can offer a number of placements within the College for example, a carpentry student is involved in designing wooden bus shelters in the area.
We had an opportunity to meet Svend-Erik Jessen, a Senior Leader at Celf, who spoke to us about Celf’s organisational strategy, which has a specific focus on internationalisation. He explained that Celf’s CEO and senior leadership team have a performance based system which a percentage of their salary to the achievement of their internationalisation targets, ensuring that their international work is at the heart of their education delivery.
Celf is located 20km from the German border, and so their apprenticeships are fully aligned and standardised with the German system; it is possible to complete a full 3 year apprenticeship with German organisations and the learning be completely valid in Denmark. Ahead of the full apprenticeship, learners can also complete a 3 week taster in Germany. This has been really useful, as the young people are often apprehensive about moving away from home. The taster gives them the confidence to know that they can live and work in Germany.
It was really interesting and inspiring to see another College in action and we thank the staff at Celf for hosting us.