Exchange students get skills boost

SEVEN students from Cantraybridge College near Inverness have experienced a taste of working life in Belgium after securing funding to take part in a two-week Erasmus+ programme.

The partnership, facilitated by SYNTRA Flanders, gave students from the college for young adults with additional support needs the opportunity to live and work abroad, building skills and increasing self-confidence.

Six students undertook work experience in painting and decorating within schools, children’s clubs and businesses in the Antwerp area, with an additional student interested in an equine career learning the ropes and reins at a stables in Manege den Dries.

The exchange programme also saw eight students from Belgium arrive in Inverness to take part in work programmes, including retail experience with MacGregor Industrial Supplies and Oxfam, wood skills from Cantraybridge’s Wood Skills Training Centre, property maintenance and horticulture.

Jenny Liddell, chief executive of Cantraybridge College, said: "At Cantraybridge, we work with a range of incredibly talented students with a diverse variety of interests and skills. By partnering with Erasmus+ and SYNTRA Flanders, we were able to provide the opportunity for them to build on their existing skills on an international scale, interacting with different cultures and learning how working practices differ around the world.

"We were also delighted to welcome the students from Belgium to the Highlands. They took part in a variety of projects, which ranged from creating a ‘goat mountain’ for Cantraybridge’s resident goats to building an outdoor guinea pig run and participating in a spot of Nessie hunting on board a Loch Ness by Jacobite vessel."

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