Professional Studies (Childhood & Youth)

This course will help you expand on the already valuable knowledge and experience you have gained so far in your career. We want to help you to enhance the support you provide for children and young people.

This work-focused qualification is a combination of practice-based learning and campus-based taught sessions which run once a week so that you are able to continue in employment or volunteering throughout the course. The foundation degree is designed to improve and develop your personal and professional communication skills, allowing you to professionalise your approach and further your personal growth. The programme increases knowledge and understanding of how children and young people learn and mature. You will explore new ways of working and challenge existing assumptions. You will work with a range of experienced academic staff who have worked in many different settings with children. You will be supported in your studies in a variety of ways, such as through group work and interactive web-based resources. The foundation degree award is organised into two levels, each comprising four modules, to be completed within two years.

This course is suitable for staff in local authorities, schools, the NHS, voluntary and third sector who use group work, informal learning and activity, outreach and community work as part of their role; particularly those working with children, young people and adults often identified as hard to reach. If you want to make a difference in the lives of children, young people and their families this is the degree for you.

The Childhood and Youth with JNC* pathway is newly validated for 2018. This pathway allows you to work towards an academic qualification and a professional qualification recognised by the National Youth Agency. The taught content of the course is the same as the standard Professional Studies (Childhood and Youth) pathway but the professional practice element differs.

Students opting for the Childhood and Youth with JNC pathway are supported by a fieldwork supervisor and lecturers to collate evidence from their professional practice to create a portfolio of work mapped against the national occupational standards for Youth Work.

Students on this pathway must complete the Foundation Degree and Progression Route in Childhood and Youth with JNC* to obtain the professional JNC qualification.

*Please note that the title of the course if taken with the JNC pathway changes slightly, from ‘Childhood and Youth’ to ‘Childhood and Youth (Youth Work pathway)’

A variety of assessment methods are used including group and individual presentations, debate, written assignments such as essays and reports and portfolios of work focused learning. All assessments allow you to reflect on your practice and theory as you evidence your learning.