Child Care

About the course*

This course is a BTEC National Award and is equivalent to one A Level qualication. The course will challenge you to develop skills that will equip you with the skills you will need to become a successful Early Years Practitioner. You will learn about the needs of babies and children, studying patterns of growth and development and the inuences on a childs development. You will also study how a childs early experiences can be facilitated through positive environments, relationships and safeguarding mechanisms. You will be required to complete a 60-hours work placement over the two years course as part of your assessment. This will provide you with invaluable experience for working in the early years sector or for further training, such as primary school teaching.

How will I be assessed?

All coursework units are internally assessed and externally moderated. The vocational placement required for Unit 38 also forms part of your assessment for the course.

Additional minimum entry requirements:

C in GCSE English at Higher Tier or English Language and C in GCSE Mathematics.

Is this course for me?

This BTEC National Award is a demanding academic subject and you will need to be committed to the course for two years. You will be required to establish links with local primary schools in order to arrange your work placement and will need to be dedicated in order to meet coursework deadlines.

Course breakdown
Diploma (Single Award): Unit 1 - Positive Relationships Unit 2 - Positive Environments Unit 3 - Promoting Childrens Development Unit 5 - Safeguarding Children Unit 38 - Vocational Experience in an Early Years Environment

Where can it take me?

If you wish to pursue a career in caring for babies and young children, then this is the course for you. Students who have successfully completed this course have gone on to study Early Childhood Studies, Primary Teaching and Social Work in further education. You should be aware that if you are interested in Primary Teaching you must already have a GCSE grade C or above in English, Maths and Science. Some universities now ask that you have the BTEC National Award to be accepted on a Primary Teaching course. However, you must also be aware that you need to study a curriculum subject at A Level to access Primary Teaching courses.

*Note: This course specication is currently being updated by the examinations board and changes will therefore reect this from September 2014. 38