Program Overview

Children, Young People and Families Practitioner Apprenticeship

Course Description

This level 4 apprenticeship is equivalent to the first year of a bachelors degree. You need to be working with children, young people and families in a community setting e.g. in family homes, schools, nurseries, youth centres, or youth justice.

Through the apprenticeship, you will become skilled in recognising and assessing the complex needs that children, young people and families often present. You will be able to make specific interventions or referrals and agree these with the child, young person or family. You will learn to approach your work with respectful curiosity, challenging and supporting children, young people and families to achieve their potential and stay safe.

You will learn to work alongside other professionals and organisations to share the responsibility for improving outcomes. Each piece of work with a child or family will be different and you will need to use your judgement, deciding which evidence-based approach is best each time.

You will regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your methods and actions and will have frequent supervisions with an experienced practitioner to help you do this. At the end of the apprenticeship, the high quality of your practice will be making a real difference to those that you work with.

Structure, Certificates and Assessment

• 80% of your learning will be through 'on-the-job' training at your place of work.
• 20% of your learning will come through training sessions or independent learning led by the University of Derby.

Face-to-Face Sessions

• You will have two full days of face-to-face session each month. It's likely that this will be on a Tuesday.
• These will normally be held at the Kedleston Road site in Derby but may sometimes be at different employer premises, so you can explore different work-based contexts.
• You will work on one module in the morning (three hours with a break) and another module in the afternoon (three hours with a break).

Directed Tasks and Independent Tasks

• You will spend the equivalent of two full days a month on these, which could include working on your portfolio, reflecting on your work, observations, evaluating your work-based interventions and actions.

Work-Based Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

• Your employer will need you to undertake regular CPD on areas such as safeguarding, PREVENT / ACT, or work-based processes.

Benefits

This apprenticeship offers you the chance to train while working and earning a wage. It gives you a range of professional and academic opportunities to develop as an outstanding practitioner for children, young people and families. It will help you become an effective, autonomous and reflective practitioner who can achieve the best possible outcomes for the children and young people you work with.

Entry Requirements

Employment Requirements

• You must currently be in paid employment of at least 30 hours per week.
• Your employer will also require you to undertake a DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service) to prove you are suitable to work with children.

Academic Requirements

• Apprentices without level 2 English and Maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking their end point assessment.

Fees and Funding

Employers

• The cost of this apprenticeship will normally be in line with the funding band £6,000, but we will consider individual agreements, depending on student numbers and your involvement.
• If you pay into the Apprenticeship Levy, this funding will be used.
• If you are an SME, generous government subsidies are available.

Apprentices

• The fees will be paid by your employer.