Open Youth 3rd Edition

Welcome to the third edition of Open Youth, the quarterly electronic bulletin from The Open University’s Working with Young People team. As we said last time, we cannot possibly include everything we want to say in one bulletin but we hope that over time these quarterly updates will gradually show you how The Open University can help you develop your workforce alongside other providers. If you require information on anything not included in this bulletin then please contact us on (01908) 858650/01908 653766 or email us at FELS-WWYP@open.ac.uk

Corporate booking
Many of our students receive sponsorship from their organisation to study our courses and the OU has a long history of successful collaboration with a range of partners including employers and HE and FE education providers.

The Student Registration and Enquiry Service has a team dedicated to the registration and special requirements of sponsored groups of students. They can be contacted on 01908 653449 or by fax on 01908 654320 or by e-mail at corporate-enquiries@open.ac.uk.As well as receiving information about sponsoring a student (or a group of students) on one of the Working with Young People modules or qualifications, you can also discuss other possibilities such as:

* students studying in one group with the same tutor
* a member of an organisation’s own staff being considered for appointment as a tutor
* courses to be informally adapted to a sponsoring organisation’s needs .

Links with FE
We are currently investigating the possibility of working with a number of FE Colleges to deliver our courses.  The exact format of the relationship varies from college to college but loosely the college provides a tutor and a tutorial base for the students, we provide the teaching materials and the assessment processes.  There is, of course, a transfer of money to the college!  The advantage to the student depends on their circumstances.  For some it means that they remain with the institution that covered their lower level qualifications, for some it means that they have a local group, for some it means that it fits in easily around other study.  If you currently have a relationship with an FE College that might be interested in investigating this further then please contact the award team on (01908) 858650/01908 653766 or email us at FELS-WWYP@open.ac.uk.

Courses starting in October 2009
This October is the last time that students can register to start E131 Introduction to working with young people and professionally qualify with the foundation degree.  Of course, we advise all students to consider taking the Honours degree to future proof their qualification but if the professional qualification is crucial then remember they need to have registered by  11th September ‘09  although we advise new students to register early to be sure they have their course materials to start on time.  E131 remains the preferred starting place for new students.  This year we have adjusted the assessment to hopefully provide a better base for students unfamiliar with Higher Education although last year saw our best completion yet for E131 (we await the results).  E118 Introduction to working with young people in practice, the first work-based learning course also closes registration on  11th September ‘09 .  For students and/or employers unsure about the arrangements required we have Transition Tutors in place this year.   Students moving onto work-based learning courses this autumn should be contacted by a transition tutor over the summer but  if they need to make contact  now then they should call the award team on (01908) 858650/01908 653766 or email us at FELS-WWYP@open.ac.uk. so we can put them in touch with the appropriate Transition Tutor.  E132 Leading work with young people and E218 Leading work with young people in practice also have registration close on 11th September ‘09.

U212 Childhood and global issues
We have perhaps been guilty in these bulletins of concentrating on those courses written specifically for the Foundation Degree (soon to be Honours) and ignoring what is often the final course, U212 Childhood.  This course is compulsory within the BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies and is a more traditional academic course.  It is good preparation for the third level courses and as such we often refer to it as a ‘bridging’ course.  However it is also an excellent international course dealing with a number of global issues related to children and young people.  Further details are available on the Study at the OU website which can be found at http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/ . Whilst our students have to study this course at some time it might also be of interest to students returning to learning and wishing to ‘top up’ their qualification to honours degree.  The course starts in February each year so no rush to register just yet!

Next bulletin
We are currently preparing for the first five nation professional validation and in the next bulletin, which will be circulated at the beginning of October, we will be able to give you further details of the arrangements in each of the nations along with details of the websites that support students’ work.  In the meantime, we have produced an Employers’ Pack full of useful information for those supporting or potentially supporting students on our awards. If you would like to receive a copy of the pack, then please contact the award team on either 01908 858650 or 01908 653766 or email FELS-WWYP@open.ac.uk.

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