Astangu VRC Equass Progress Report 2021

Annex 11: Format EQUASS Progress Report The Progress Report must be sent 12 and 24 months after the EQUASS Certification. The Progress Report must address issues, written down by the EQUASS Certified Organisation and the EQUASS Auditor. The EQUASS Progress Report may have max 6 pages in total (including information provided by the EQUASS Certified Organisation and the feedback of the Auditor). The progress report should be sent to the EQUASS LLH, or the EQUASS Office in Brussels in case there is no LLH operating in the country. Section 1 Format <To be filled in by the EQUASS Certified Organisation> Date: December 2021 1 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be  Is Has the issue Have the this addressed been assessed outcomes of in the Audit internally? the internal What have you done, in the last year, to improve your performance against the EQUASS Principles Report? assessment and Criteria? been documented? YES NO YES NO YES NO 1 Astangu VRC’s strategy ended with 2020 and for the new period of 2021–2024 Astangu VRC decided to align its √ √ √ planning with governments planning process. Thus, Astangu VRC has a new vision for 2035 and a new strategy for the period of 2021–2024 and a work plan for each and every year. For each new four year period, Astangu VRC will decide what objectives and key results to set to move closer to the vision for 2035, which makes the four year strategy more of a compass than a map, and can be flexible adapted according to changing external or internal conditions. Astangu VRC also uses the OKR method throughout its planning process and hopes to improve OKR’s use also from throughout the organisation (not just for work plan, but for weekly planning etc.). Part of the new strategy is an analysis of the target group for Astangu VRC, how the target group has changed over the years, where the people are that can benefit from Astangu VRC’s vocational rehabilitation service, but also analysis of Astangu VRC’s challenges in the changing external and internal environment and what are our needs to be able to respond better to those challenges. Astangu VRC also has a new approach to annual work plan by identifying focus themes (for 2022 altogether 13 focus themes were identified). Focus themes will help in better establishing teams for reaching goals in those focus themes. Also, focus themes will help employees in better understanding their role. Input to the focus themes’ goals come also from different regular satisfaction surveys that Astangu VRC carries out, which is the core of the cyclic manner for improvements carried out at Astangu VRC. With the creation of Development Unit under the Administrative and Development Department, there is also a single owner for the process. Criteria 1, 3, 4, 10, 42, 43, 48 2 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be 2 COVID-19 has been the main issue that needs constant attention and flexibility from the organisation and staff alike. √ √ √ Astangu VRC has set specific guidelines and rules regarding COVID-19 in the beginning of the school year, and has been reviewing them constantly in order to comply with either state regulation or with the changing environment at the centre (e.g. spread of the virus, contact tracing, organising distance learning in cases of self-isolation etc.). Since distance learning and digital skills has been put in the forefront in the pandemic, Astangu VRC has realised that more attention needs to be given to understanding better digitals skills of students and teachers (also an objective way to measure those skills, since mostly the level of digital skills is measured through subjective answers, but self- assessment is very reliant on the complexity of the digital environment in any given country etc.), how to better digitalise teaching materials, what environment is best suited to each group of students, and how to match students with teaching environment and topic at hand. Astangu VRC has managed to find funding and hire an educational technologist (as of April 2021) to further digital skills among staff and students of Astangu VRC. The aim is to facilitate distance learning methods and find suitable digital environments and methods to use with students with special needs. Criteria 8, 15, 16, 31, 32 3 Due to COVID-19 and the impact pandemic has been reported to have on mental health, Astangu VRC has elaborated √ √ √ a tool to measure the well-being of mental health of its employees. The methodology is based on COPSOQ and Astangu VRC has conducted the measurement twice in 2021. For 2022 mental health is one of focus themes in the work plan and Astangu VRC has a specific action plan how to better the mental health of its employees. For students mental health modules have been introduced into curriculum and Astangu VRC has been training other vocational schools on the importance of mental health among students. Additionally, Astangu VRC put together a risk analysis of biological risk factors to submit to the Labour Inspectorate. Criterion 8 4 Students enrolled in Astangu VRC’s own training courses (not vocational education curriculum) don’t have the same √ √ √ rights in respect of receiving benefits and grants compared to those students that are enrolled in vocational education curriculum. Also, Astangu VRC’s teachers and support staff are not considered to be the same as teaching and support staff at schools (whatever the level), which leaves them without certain grants etc. And Astangu VRC, not being an educational institution, is left out of many grant possibilities of European Union structural funds and other funding opportunities, which also has an impact of Astangu VRC’s staff. Astangu VRC has been cooperating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Education and Science to solve these issues. Thus far Astangu VRC work has resulted in the Amendments of the Social Welfare Act and other respective acts, which enlarged the possibilities of Astangu VRC’s students to apply for different family benefits (went into effect 01.04.2021). Criteria 34, 37 5 In the context of drawing up a new strategy, we’ve defined the vocational rehabilitation service and its components that √ √ √ students receive at our centre. We’ve set a vision for 2035 that 10x more students in vocation education receive 3 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be  vocational rehabilitation service (that is approximately 1000 students in vocational schools across Estonia). In order for that vision to become reality, we’ve applied for EU funding (from the Ministry of Social Affairs) and received the funds to design a vocational rehabilitation service for Estonia on the example of the service at Astangu VRC. Astangu VRC has hired a project manager and through the process of public procurement have found a partner in service design. Currently analysis has been conducted on the support services available and used in vocational schools in Estonia. Then the design of the service will start. The pilot of actually providing students with special needs in selected schools (schools that were interested in participating in the project) according to their needs with vocational rehabilitation services will start for the school year of 2022/2023. The results of the project and suggestions for the improvement of the service will be available in the second half of 2023. Criterion 31, 42, 43 6 Astangu VRC is also trying to expand the target group of people with special needs that can receive vocational √ √ √ rehabilitation service. For that, Astangu VRC has applied for EU funding (from the Ministry of Social Affairs) and received necessary funds to develop a suitable curriculum (content and language integrated learning) for Russian speaking people with special needs. Astangu VRC has hired a project manager who has conducted an analysis of the target group, established through interviews contacts with basic schools that have Russian speaking students with special needs. Through the project Astangu VRC can hire additional personnel to support the group that will start studying at Astangu VRC. The piloting of the curriculum will start for the school year of 2022/2023. The results of the project and suggestions for the improvement of the curriculum will be available in the second half of 2023. Criteria 31, 42, 43 7 Since its strategy for 2018–2020 Astangu VRC has been more set on nudging vocational schools through counselling √ √ √ (process or case based), training (on the basis of mapping the needs of the school) and organising network events where all support specialists and teachers (including Astangu VRC’s) from vocational schools can exchange their best practices and listen to others to take back and look at what they can change within their school. This is all done in order to reduce the number of students with special needs in vocational schools that drop out of studies. To further our understanding how our activities impact the schools, we’re devising an index to measure the impact of our interventions. Criterion 24 8 Thus far Astangu VRC has used EQUAL to measure a person’s quality of life and how the interventions by specialists √ √ √ at Astangu VRC have improved person’s quality of life. This is a very important part of our services – to improve people’s quality of life and only the person can assess if the interventions have done that. As an organisation that is always looking for ways to improve our services and grow though that, we want to be able to better understand also the objective impact of our interventions on a person. In order to have that data that we can use to improve effectiveness of our interventions, but also to compare that data throughout years, we are currently trying to develop blocks of key abilities and how to measure them in the beginning, middle (coincides with the review of students’ 4 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be  individual action plans for the year), and end of the school year. Once the tool has been developed, it can be shared also to other vocational schools, and together with the vocational rehabilitation service that is being also currently developed, can make a real impact in aiding students with special needs in vocational schools to finish their studies and enter employment market, and decrease their dropout rate. Criteria 16, 24, 32 9 In last year’s progress report we reported that for the Annual Work Plan of 2020 Astangu VRC set specific max drop- √ √ √ out rates for its own courses, which hadn’t been done before. Building on top of that we’ve also foreseen in the strategy a development of a dropout reduction strategy, which would aid in better contextualization and more targeted way of reducing the dropout rate at Astangu VRC. Also, that way we can also share our best practices and learning curves with vocational schools who are obligated to have such strategies in place, but either don’t or have them only on paper. Criterion 42 10 Astangu VRC has long used and disseminated in Estonia the Jobpics methodology. Now that Astangu VRC has √ √ √ secured a license agreement for developing further the methodology for the Estonian market, we’ve received funding to update the occupation cards and develop digital tool for use. Astangu VRC is doing this in cooperation with the Estonian Unemployment Fund through whom we’ve secured the funding for this project. Currently a contract has been signed for the project management service as a result of public procurement process. Criterion 34 11 Study regulations have proven to be not adequate compared with student behaviour, so as of September 2021 √ √ √ Astangu VRC has updated the study regulation, setting clear behavioural expectations to students and listed different methods for sanctioning behaviour that is against the rules. The rules have been introduced to students at the beginning of the school year, not just passively, but also via active participation of students themselves in ranking rights and obligations by their importance. Since the same rules are linked also with bullying behaviour, the student council went over establishing, via an active participation exercise in December, what that actually is. Criteria 13, 14 12 Astangu VRC is finalizing the renewal of the directive for processing of personal data. The renewal of the directive has √ √ √ taken longer time than expected, since additional avenues have been added where Astangu VRC processes different kinds of personal data. Assessment showed that since the main principles were adequate and people’s rights whose personal data is processed at Astangu VRC were secured. Criterion 23 5 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be 13 Astangu VRC is looking into signing a contract (expected beginning of 2022) for auditing the organisational structure √ √ √ and whether it supports best quality of services provided by Astangu VRC and reaching goals established by the strategy and long-term vision. Criteria 7, 10 6 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be Note: <A brief description of actions / activities that have been carried out in the last 12 months to improve the performance on the EQUASS Principles and Criteria. (Max 4 A4 - font size 10 Pt interspace (1.0)) > Last year has been mainly characterized by two key words – new strategy and COVID-19 pandemic. Astangu VRC set itself a goal to maintain in person studying and other activities while also keeping at minimum possible infection vectors among students and staff alike. When the pandemic started in spring 2020, Astangu VRC followed the state rules and started distance learning. Despite the fact that distance learning was overall quite successful, it was taxing both for teachers and students alike, and revealed also many problems, including home situations that weren’t supportive of the distance learning process. Considering the toll on students’ and employees’ mental health alike, a decision was taken that for school years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 the centre will set flexible and constantly reviewable procedures that will help navigate the pandemic. Astangu VRC also had the task to prepare a new strategy for 2021–2024. Taking this task seriously the centre aligned the process with that of the state planning process and has actively sought and received already in 2021 several funding opportunities for goals that were first set up in the new strategy. Many of the improvement activities described in the report have direct links to the strategy for 2021–2024 (and the long-term goal for 2035). Format <To be filled in by the EQUASS Auditor> Date: ……. Is the issue relevant for improving the performance on Additional comments and recommendations from the EQUASS Auditor EQUASS Criteria? YES NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be The numbering of the format for the auditor here above, corresponds with the numbering of the format for the EQUASS Certified Organisation on page 1 of this document. Note: <A brief feedback, comment and/or recommendations from the Auditor regarding the improved actions /results? Max 2 A4 - font size 10 Pt interspace (1.0)) > 8 Avenue des Arts 8 c/o CCI, 1210 Brussels, Belgium - [email protected] – www.equass.be Saatja: Veronika Kaska <[email protected]> Saatmisaeg: kolmapäev, 15. detsember 2021 12:20 Adressaat: '[email protected]' <[email protected]> Koopia: Helen Sinilaid <[email protected]> Teema: Astangu VRC Equass Progress Report 2021 Hello, Please find attached Astangu Vocational Rehabilitation Centre’s Progress Report for 2021. Kind regards, Veronika Kaska Deputy Director/ Lawyer Together we can create a better life every day, with every thought and action Tel +372 687 7233 Mob +372 505 5381 [email protected] Astangu Vocational Rehabilitation Centre Astangu 27, Tallinn 13519