Level 3 Early Learning and Childcare

Course Outline
 ·         Understand Child and Young Person Development
·         Understand How to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Children and Young People
·         Support Children and Young People's Health and Safety
·         Working Together for the Benefit of Children and Young People
·         Understand How to Support Positive Outcomes for Children and Young People
·         Promote equality and inclusion in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings

·         Context and principles for early years provision
·         Promote children’s welfare and well being in the early years
·         Professional practice in early years settings
·         Engage parents in their children’s early learning
·         Support children and young people to achieve their learning potential
·         Promote young children’s physical activity and movement skills
 
Study Method
 The course is designed for study by distance learning at work or at home. Students receive course manual, assignments and studyguide plus tutor support by mail and email. You can start at any time and plan your studies over a period of up to one year from the time of enrolment.
 
Assessment
Each unit is followed by a written assignment (comprising a portfolio of evidence of learning), which is submitted and then marked by your tutor.
 
Course Duration
Students may register at any time and have a full year to complete their studies. The course will take around 200 hours of study to complete.
 
Course Accreditation
At the end of this course successful learners will receive a level 3 NCFE Award certificate of achievement. That means that it is independently accredited at a level of learning equivalent to level 3 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The course is provided in conjunction with Kendal Publishing Limited – a licenced NCFE centre.
 
NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland.
 
Students will in addition be provided with a full list of course units and assessment criteria mapped to the NCFE Level 3 Diploma for Children and Young People’s Workforce. This can then be used to obtain credits or exemptions towards this QCF qualification.
 
Pack/Course Contents
Your study pack is dispatched in full at the time of enrolment and provides all you need to complete your studies:
·         Studyguide
·         Comprehensive study notes for each element of the course
·         Self-assessment activities
·         Assignments
·         Tutor support
·         Assignment marking & feedback
·         Certification
 
Notes on this course
From September 2010 two significant changes to qualifications for people working (or planning to work) in the Child Care sector have taken place. These are to be fully implemented from January 2011 and are:
1.      The introduction of a new national qualifications system called Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) which provides for a credit based system of qualification accreditation where student will study units of learning and obtain credits for them towards nationally recognised qualifications.
 
2.      The introduction of new qualifications for the child care sector, overseen by the Sector Skills Council Children’s Welfare Development Council.
The result of these changes is that people looking to qualify to work in the sector will be expected to obtain a competence base qualification which assesses knowledge, understanding and skill in an agreed range of subject areas. Because the skills elements MUST be assessed in the workplace by a professionally qualified person it will in future be necessary for students to complete a series of practical workplace assessments in order to achieve a full qualification. This cannot be undertaken by distance learning but in order to make progress students can learn and be assessed on a range of knowledge and understanding elements, by a distance learning method.
Consequently the course we offer enables student to complete a range of units which teaches much of the essential knowledge and understanding required. On completion of this course, students will need to complete further study and assessment under the guidance of a workplace assessor, but will have gained a solid foundation of knowledge on whih they have been assessed.

The new QCF, referred to above, incorporates the principle of Recognition of Prior Learning whereby students can claim credit or exemption for prior learning and on completion of this course you will be provided with a detailed statement of the units and learning outcomes achieved. This will then enable you to request credit or exemption for elements of the qualification required to practice in the sector.

The new QCF qualification being introduced is the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People’s Workforce (Early Learning & Child Care pathway). This is based upon achieving a minimum of 65 credits drawn from a range of mandatory and optional units. This distance learning programme is fully mapped to the new qualification, and provides knowledge and understand assessment for 12 study units equivalent to 38 credits.
This means that through this course of study, student can gain a broad understanding of key elements of the child care role and progress as far as possible by distance learning and receive accreditation for your work. You can then complete a full qualification in the workplace through additional assessment, whilst gaining credit for the units completed by distance learning.