Cert HE Working With Children, Young People and Families

This course will allow you to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence required to make a difference in the lives of children, young people and families. You will study a range of topics which will ensure you have both the theoretical grounding and practical skills to develop yourself as an effective, professional and reflective practitioner.

You will start by learning about human development and a range of factors which may impact upon people's lives and wellbeing. You will then explore topics such working alongside other professionals, assessment and safeguarding. You will bring this learning together in later units, where you will explore devising, delivering and monitoring interventions in an evidence-based way, and will have the opportunity to develop specialist knowledge and understanding around either Educational or Social Work roles. Alongside this, you will be studying professional practice units to refine your practice, and develop knowledge and understanding of the core skills required to engage, communicate and work effectively with children, young people and families.

This course is delivered part-time only and will take three semesters (approximately 18 months) to complete. You will be timetabled for lessons one day per week. This course is designed to be studied alongside working in a relevant setting (whether paid work or work experience) so you can put your learning into practice and reflect upon your experiences.

A CertHE is a standalone qualification, equivalent in level to the first year of a 'traditional' Bachelor's Degree. This course can also be studied as part of a Higher Apprenticeship. For more information, please speak to our Employer Engagement team.

Students are expected to undertake at least two days per week of work in a relevant setting where they will be working with Children, Young People and Families. This could be work experience, or could be paid employment. Students will be expected to find their own placements, but the University Centre can provide support with this if needed.

An appropriate setting for work / work experience would be one where you have the opportunity to work with others when you undertake assessments and deal with safeguarding concerns. You’ll plan, deliver, monitor and evaluate a variety of suitable interventions – enabling you to consider effective evidence-based solutions as a result of your understanding of a situation. You’ll explore the specifics of working with a specialised age group in a variety of contexts to further develop your employability.

Upon successful completion, you will be awarded a CertHE Working With Children, Young People and Families. The awarding body for this course is the University of Gloucestershire.

Upon completion, you could progress into a variety of roles where you are providing early help and intervention support to children, young people or families. This might include working in pastoral support in schools, family support, housing support or advocacy work. If, upon completion, you wish to continue your studies, there are strong links between this course and the BSc (Hons) Social Work degree, as well as the FdA and BA (Hons) Childhood Studies, Care and Education degrees at Yeovil College University Centre.

You will study a range of units that will develop your specialist knowledge and skills, ensuring you have both the theoretical grounding and practical skills set to be a successful practitioner working with children, young people and families. You will have the opportunity to put your learning into practice during the days each week where you are undertaking work / work experience. There are seven core units, and then students have a choice of final unit, and can develop specialist knowledge around either Educational or Social Work settings.

Units studied include: Professional Practice, Human Development, The Social Context, Practical Skills, Working With Others, Assessment & Safeguarding, Interventions, and either Specialist Understandings and Educational Roles or Specialist Understandings and Social Workers.

Please be aware that modules studied may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, changes from the awarding University, or in response to learner feedback. Students can always find the most up-to-date information about modules and who is teaching them in the course handbook.

The course is taught by well qualified and industry experienced lectures who are dedicated to ensuring student success through effective curriculum delivery and high-quality pastoral support. The team includes staff with relevant expertise working with children, young people and families.

This course will be taught over one day per week. As with all University Centre programmes, students are required to take ownership of their learning and development and should expect to spend time studying and completing assessment tasks with independence outside of lectures.

At the end of each unit, students will have access to tutorial support from staff. In addition, staff are contactable outside of dedicated tutorial weeks in order to support you in your learning.

Fees for this course are set by the University of Gloucestershire. Students are therefore advised to consult with the University of Gloucestershire for full fee information.

Students will be expected to fund their own travel both to and from the location where they are undertaking their work / work experience alongside the course. Whilst some students may choose to buy their own copies of certain key texts this isn't essential as relevant resources are available through the College's Learning Resources Centre. 

A range of assessment techniques will be used, including essays, reflective assignments, presentations and reports. Feedback will be provided to you in order to support you in your development.

Typical entry requirements are 56 UCAS Tariff Points. These could come from a range of qualifications, including but not limited to A Levels, BTECs or the Access to HE Diploma. Applicants are normally required to hold Grade 4 / C in Maths and English at GCSE level (or equivalent).

We welcome applicants from mature students, and do not necessarily require the same entry requirements for those who will be aged 21+ at the start of the course as we would expect from school-leavers.  If you are over 21 years of age and have suitable industrial experience you may be permitted entry to the programme post successful completion of an interview and evidence of suitable and appropriate experience. For more information, please get in touch.

International applicants will be required to evidence English language skills - this could be an IELTS score of 6.0 (with no element below 5.5), a grade 4 in GCSE English (or equivalent), or having recently completed a Level 3 qualification taught and assessed in the English language. For more information, please get in touch. 

Please be aware that an interview will form part of the admissions process. For more information, see the "What Happens After I Apply?" guide in the 'About Us' page at www.ycuc.ac.uk.

As mentioned above, students will be expected to be undertaking at least 2 days of work / work experience in a relevant setting each week.

To apply, email university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk and request an application form. As this is a part-time course, you won't need to use UCAS.

If you have any queries, don't hesitate to email university.centre@yeovil.ac.uk or call 01935845454.