Animal Welfare students from Solihull College & University Centre have been welcomed to the Netherlands for a 2-week trip gaining experience of European animal welfare practices thanks to partner college Curio.
The trip comes a year after students from Curio visited Blossomfield Campus as part of an exchange programme.
Following a successful application for Turing funding, the College enabled all Level 3 students to apply for the 10 places available on the ‘Netherlands International Project’ through a recruitment process.
Tutors worked with students to treat it like preparation for a job interview. Support was offered on enhancing student CVs, gaining work placement references, and producing a covering letter on how the trip would improve students’ future career prospects.
The College also ran dedicated workshops to ensure students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups were given equal access to the project, even supporting with passport applications for those that had never been abroad.
The trip saw students work alongside Dutch animal welfare students and staff as well as visiting a range of animal establishments, including a camel and buffalo dairy farm. The students commented on how they had developed their communication skills, enjoyed experiencing a new culture, as well as seeing new approaches to animal welfare. They will now all work together to present their experiences to other students on the College’s World of Work Conference Day.
Head of School for Animal Welfare & Veterinary Nursing, Claire Powell, commented: “This has proven to be an amazing experience for the students involved. I have thoroughly enjoyed keeping up with their daily blogging and photos to see all the amazing things they got up to. I am sure they have made memories that will last forever.”
