ESC: Volunteering at the school for adults CFPA Enric Valor

The CP FPA "Enric Valor" is a Public School for Adults which teaches students who range from 18 to 84 years old. It provides a very wide educational offer. On the one hand, there are literacy programmes for people who have never attended school before, and who therefore, have never learnt to read or write. We also have lessons for people who went to school a long time ago and then gave it up, and who now want to strengthen some basic instrumental techniques such as reading and writing, mathematics or social and natural sciences. On the other hand, there are also lessons for people who didn't finish their basic studies and want to keep on studying because they need it for their Curriculum of for personal purposes. In addition, we also teach people who want to get their Certificate on Secondary Education. There are also lessons of Valencian language, from the lowest to the highest level. Furthermore, the CP FPA offers courses to prepare students for their access to Vocational Training, as well as the access to University for people who are over 25 and 45 years old. The CP FPA "Enric Valor" is also a school for foreign students who learn Spanish, especially migrants and refugees who need to learn Spanish and even Valencian to be able to integrate in our society. In fact, one of our teachers is in charge of receiving them and see what their needs are, and thus, we can tutor and help them while they are in our school and when they finish it . Finally, our school also offers a great variety of workshops on different areas for people to develop diverse skills and to improve at their personal level. These workshops range from yoga, pilates and dancing to English, French, computing and artistic expression and art history. All these activities also foster the relationship among people from different cultures, nationalities, personal situations and educational standards, providing them with the opportunity to learn, socialize and with the feeling that they belong to a community. Our school differs from others as people who attend our lessons are adults whose interests and needs are very strong and determined. Our main aim is to boost the integration in the society to people who have face difficulties throughout their lives by offering them a safe place to learn, socialize and feel that they belong to a group. The fact that our school has a big number of foreign students, makes the collaboration of the volunteers so important, since they can contribute and receive very enriching life experiences. We have a lot of experience in Community action and interculturality, research and innovation, consultancy and insertion initiatives, as we also work with some associations which help people who have been rejected from society in some way. As an example, our school participates in some of the programmes of the Red Cross, with an association called CEPAIM, which works with migrants and refugees and which promotes integration, as well as an intercultural and a equal society, where the most vulnerable people can have full access to their rights as citizens, and with EGUEIRO, a non-profit organization that works in drug prevention programmes that has been working continuously for the rehabilitation, training and reintegration of people with drug problems for more than 31 years. In addition, the CP FPA Enric Valor is participating in a pioneering educational experience as the “COEDUCA” Program, oriented towards a culture of peace with a gender perspective and which aims to involve the entire educational community to achieve equality between men and women. What’s more ,our school also promotes the use of virtual components such as information and communication technology tools in every project and activity. Formal and non-formal education allows students and volunteers to acquire essential skills that contribute to their personal and socio-educational development and promote their active participation in society, thereby improving, among other aspects, their employment perspectives For all these reasons , we are capable of providing the volunteers not only with the possibility of interacting with Spanish and foreign students, learning the language, getting to know the Spanish culture or using information technology tools, but also of offering them the possibility of participating in activities which promote equality, social inclusion, integration, environmental awareness and European Citizenship.