Working with Children and Families

Embark on a transformative journey that delves into the complexities of child development and family dynamics. This comprehensive course is meticulously designed to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge for a rewarding career in child and family support. Gain a deep understanding of the key principles and practices involved in supporting children and families. This course covers essential topics such as child development, safeguarding, family dynamics, and multi-agency collaboration. Combining academic study with practical experience, it provides a well-rounded foundation for working in education, social services, or community-focused roles.
You'll explore current challenges and research in the field, developing critical skills in communication, problem-solving, and reflective practice. With a focus on real-world applications, this course is ideal for those who aspire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families, preparing you for a variety of rewarding career paths in this vital sector.

Course Modules

This programme has a number of distinguishing features including:

- An emphasis on interdisciplinary working, employability, internationalisation, research skills and social justice\

• To provide a supportive and responsive learning environment that will enable students with different experiences to develop a flexible and transferable skill set\
• To engage you with a variety of learning experiences that build on skills and knowledge to facilitate the development of a critical understanding of the children’s workforce and social care settings\
• Develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to work in integrated practice settings across the children’s workforce and social care settings\
• Confidently engage with and support the development of children, young people, families and communities\
• Plan, deliver and evaluate projects and interventions that support social action and social justice\
• Understand and locate themselves within the local, national and global children’s workforce and social care settings

Modules:
This module map provides a list of the modules that make up your course.

Year 1 -\

• Perspectives in Human Development\
• Professional Skills with Children, Young People, Families and Communities\
• Social and Political Influences on Policy and Practice\
• Play and Creative Development in Diverse Contexts\
• Cultural and Historical Influences on Children, Young people and Families\
• An Introduction to Practitioner Research

Year 2 -\

• Researching and Evaluating Practice\
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-oppressive Practice (with work-based learning)\
• The Internet, Media & Society\
• Crime & Conflict\
• Identity, Personality and Social Justice\
• Innovative Approaches to Working with Children and Families

All teaching will take place in the classroom environment, but you will be expected to use your experience within the workplace to inform your learning. Throughout your programme of study, you will be required to complete assessments to demonstrate your learning of subject knowledge and transferable key skills.

You will experience a range of different types of assessment during your programme which will include some of the following:\

• Case studies\
• Literature reviews\
• Group work\
• Presentations\
• Portfolios\
• Reports\
• Proposals\
• Multiple choice questions\
• Reflections

You will typically have around 11 contact hours per week, consisting of:\

• 9 hours of lectures\
• 2 hours of tutorial/pastoral support

Independent learning:
When not attending lectures, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research, preparing coursework assignments and presentations

Your independent learning is supported by a range of facilities, including a personal tutor, the HE academic support tutor and the Learning Resource Centre facilities available to you.

Overall Workload:
Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, around 10 hours’ independent learning, and assignment activity.

Academic support: Our HE Academic Support Tutor provides help in the following areas:\

• Study skills (including reading, writing, note-taking and presentation skills)\
• Written English (including punctuation and grammatical accuracy)\
• Academic writing (including how to reference)\
• Research skills (in conjunction with the learning centres)\
• Critical thinking and understanding arguments\
• Revision, assessment and examination skills (including time management)

Teaching staff:
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team, whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes lecturers with industry experience.

Our teaching is informed by the relevant practice within the sector and 100% of our lecturers have a teaching qualification.
Assessment:
The course provides you with opportunities to test your understanding of the subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Each module normally contains at least one piece of ‘formative’ assessment for which you receive feedback from your tutor.

There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. Assessment methods examples include written tasks, assignments, portfolio work and presentations. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.

Percentage of the course assessed by coursework:
100% of the course is assessed by submission of module work.

Feedback:
You will receive feedback on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback is intended to help you learn and you are encouraged to discuss it with your module tutor.

We aim to provide you with feedback within 20 working days of hand-in (formal coursework assessment).