Children Young People & Families Practitioner

Tuition Fees are paid by funding through the Employer and/or Government via the Apprenticeship Levy, meaning that you as the learner do not pay the standard tuition fee rates.

Please be aware that students on Degree Apprenticeships do not qualify for any funding from Student Finance.

Children, Young People and Families Practitioners secure jobs in a range of settings, such as local authorities, charities, voluntary organisations and private businesses, supporting children, young people and their families with their education, social care and health and wellbeing.

Traditional careers which demand a professional qualification, such as teaching and social work are no longer the sole providers of care and support for children, young people and their families. The work force is much broader and diverse in its commitment to deliver a vast range of supportive roles. New roles in the sector are emerging all the time.

By completing the Children, Young People and Families Practitioners apprenticeship you will achieve a recognised Level 4 qualification- Certificate in Higher Education Working with Children, Young People and their Families, which will elevate you on the career ladder within the children and young people workforce.

Children, Young People and Families Practitioners currently work across the sector, from education settings, such as schools, Nurseries, FE colleges and specialist therapeutic provision, to community and social care provision; children’s residential care homes, children’s advocacy services, domestic abuse centres, pupil referral units, youth offending and family support services.

On completion of the Children, Young People and Families Practitioners apprenticeship, you will have the opportunity, should you wish, to progress onto Year 2 and 3 of the BA (Hons) Children, Schools and Families, in order to achieve a full honours degree. As this is a separate non- apprenticeship programme standard undergraduate tuition fees would apply.

You can also choose to continue your studies to obtain professional status in programmes such as Initial Teacher training, Social Work and Early Years.

Teaching will take place one day per week and normally consist of six hours of teaching contact and four hours of independent e- learning per week.

You will study six modules over the 12 months. Teaching and learning is delivered through a blended learning approach, incorporating scheduled teaching and learning activities such as lectures, seminars, workshops, guest speakers, class discussions, e- learning tasks and independent directed study. You will undertake structured group exercises. Sessions will be interactive combining question and answer sessions and ‘stop and think’ tasks with an analysis of key ideas relating to the lecture topic. Where appropriate, video links, radio broadcasts and documentaries will be used to help you make connections with current debates relating to children, young people and families.

• E-Learning: Guided independent study tasks that are accessed online. These support and further develop your knowledge and understanding of the learning activities within delivered sessions.
• Preparation for class: This involves you spending time refining lecture notes, making notes on key readings and doing any necessary preparation for your next sessions.
• Structured Work-based Learning Activities: You will be provided with structured activities to support you in applying the ideas you learn about in lectures to your workplace.

Assessment strategy

The six modules comprise of a range of assessment tasks, such as portfolios, workbooks, presentations, written assignments, designed to develop your awareness of professional identities and practice within the children and young people’s workforce and build your knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to working with children, young people and families in your setting.

Preparation for assessment will include guided and independently identified reading, tutorials, planning for your assessments and receiving and acting on tutor feedback. You will be encouraged to develop an effective work ethic to achieve goals and work to deadlines.

Throughout your apprenticeship you will receive weekly contact with the apprenticeship course team offering study support and guidance. Individual tutorial support will be scheduled regularly, to ensure that your individual learning needs are met and to provide opportunities for detailed feedback on your progress.

Scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered to meet the module learning outcomes, differing learning preferences and identified learning needs.

You will receive detailed annotated feedback on all your module assessments and have the opportunity to access one to one tutorial feedback from the module tutor. Detailed feedback is seen as a fundamental part of developing your knowledge, skills and practice.

Additional study support is provided through further services at the university, that will support the development of your academic study, including academic mentors.

The University has many learning resources both on and off campus – including online access to other libraries and information services (which may be closer to you) through schemes such as Sconul Access and an Inter-Library Loans Service.

There’s also an information skills training programme, IT help and advice from LIS Customer Support.

And you’ll be able to remotely link to the university’s network account, the library's electronic resources and some core software applications.

All Level 4 Children, Young People and Families Practitioners apprentices sit an independent end-point assessment (EPA), assessing all the knowledge, skills and behaviours you’ve learnt throughout your apprenticeship.

It’s taken at the very end of the on-programme phase of training when your employer, or in some cases your training provider, is satisfied that you meet the “gateway” criteria to take the assessment.

End-point-assessments are graded and you’ll get an apprenticeship certificate after you’ve successfully completed your EPA. It’s a test that’s valued by current and future employers.

To be Gateway ready you must achieve the following on-programme assessment requirements prior to Gateway:

• Completion of the mandatory qualification, Level 4 Certificate in Higher Education in working with Children, Young People and Families.
• Level 2 English and Maths
• Completion of a portfolio to support the competence interview.

The EPA for Children, Young People and Families Practitioner contains 2 methods of assessment as outlined below:

1. Observation of Practice (50%)

The Observation of Practice will last for 80-90 minutes, and will take place during the course of an apprentice’s normal work day and will assess their application of knowledge, skills and behaviours.

2. Competence Interview informed by Portfolio (50%)

The Competence Interview is a structured discussion of 55-60 minutes between the apprentice and the Independent End-Point Assessor (IEPA), focusing on the work covered in the Portfolio.

The portfolio will not be assessed, but it will be used to inform the questioning for the competence interview.

Enrolment on the course is subject to a mandatory DBS check.

As you’ll be working with vulnerable groups of individuals, including children, you’ll need a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance (formerly termed CRB). We’ll be able to guide you through this process once you have been offered a conditional place of study here.

If your Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check proves to be unsatisfactory, your offer of a place may be withdrawn.

If you’ve already enrolled on a course and your DBS check subsequently discloses a criminal conviction, you may be asked to withdraw from the course even if you have already started. If you think your DBS check will disclose a previous conviction, please contact the course leader for advice as not all convictions may preclude you from continuing with the course.

You can register with the government Find Apprenticeship Service to receive updates on all Degree Apprenticeships. Or visit our vacancies page to view our latest job listings.

Award Type: CertHE
Level: Level 4
Start Date: September
Location/Campus: Preston or Burnley
Delivery: Part-time
Duration: 24 months

Tuition Fees are paid by funding through the Employer and/or Government via the Apprenticeship Levy, meaning that you as the learner do not pay the standard tuition fee rates. Students on Degree Apprenticeships do not qualify for any funding from Student Finance.

Contact our Business Development Team:

Telephone: 01772 895500,

email: uclanapprenticeships@uclan.ac.uk