Unfortunately Nursery World never seems to mention the Open University's childcare and education courses in the training supplements or articles where an overview is given. The OU is currently running a two-year, part-time Certificate in Early Years Practice (NQF Level 4) course, which is linked to its foundation degree. The certificate attracts Department for Education and Skills funding (course fees paid, a 500 bursary, childcare costs of up to 500, and the loan of a laptop and printer), and the OU is currently trying to obtain this funding for the Foundation Degree. I work full-time as a nanny and have found the OU a very easy, manageable way to upgrade my qualifications and move up to a Level 4. However, at times the course seems to be more relevant for anyone working in a school or nursery.
Unfortunately Nursery World never seems to mention the Open University's childcare and education courses in the training supplements or articles where an overview is given. The OU is currently running a two-year, part-time Certificate in Early Years Practice (NQF Level 4) course, which is linked to its foundation degree. The certificate attracts Department for Education and Skills funding (course fees paid, a 500 bursary, childcare costs of up to 500, and the loan of a laptop and printer), and the OU is currently trying to obtain this funding for the Foundation Degree.
I work full-time as a nanny and have found the OU a very easy, manageable way to upgrade my qualifications and move up to a Level 4. However, at times the course seems to be more relevant for anyone working in a school or nursery.
The OU also runs some other relevant childcare and childhood courses towards a BA in Childhood and Youth Studies, and hopefully the foundation degree can be topped up to become a full BA.
By the way, the book Working with children in the early years (Professional Books, 19 June) is essentially the textbook for the course of the same name (OU E123), which is Year One of the certificate mentioned above.
Justine Cornforth Cobham, Surrey
