• Advice and support on obtaining voluntary work

• Guidance on ensuring you have selected the right course

• How to check the validity of the qualification on the Ofqual website

• Study either hard copy (paper) or online

• Onboarding call when course received

• Ongoing support by telephone and email from support team and tutor

• Weekly group zoom meetings with tutor (recording available if you can't make it)

• Monthly Check-In to ensure you are progressing well

• Once qualified, support with finding employment from our careers team

• FREE Totem (NUS) Student Card giving you discounts on many products and services

• FREE membership of the CACHE Alumni

Support is provided for up to 12 months but it is entirely up to you how quickly you work through the course. The estimated study time is 90 hours so if you average around 5-6 hours a week study you would complete in 4-5 months.

The course is delivered hard copy in folders. These are yours to keep so you can write on them, make notes etc. Your pack will contain everything you need to begin your course including your lessons, tutor and support information. In addition a study guide explaining how to get started along with comprehensive study notes for each element of the course is included.

Support is provided throughout the course via a tutor who can be emailed at any time should you come across anything you are unsure of. There is also a support team by telephone. Don't hesitate to ask if you are unsure!

In addition you will have access to weekly group zoom meetings where students will have an opportunity to submit questions to a tutor and get the necessary support. Even if you haven't a question of your own, the questions and answers given to other students may prove invaluable to you.

The course is split into four units. At the end of each unit you will complete an assignment which you will email to your tutor. An assignment is a set of questions based upon the unit you have just studied.  If there are any areas for improvements or anything that you have misunderstood you will always have the opportunity to re-submit. 

The good news is there are no exams! Once you have completed all the assignments/portfolio work you complete the course.

Unit 1: Schools and Colleges as Organisations

• Understand the structure of education from early years to post-compulsory education
• Understand how schools and colleges are organised in terms of roles and responsibilities.
• Understand teamwork in schools and colleges
• Understand educational ethos, mission, aims and values

Unit 2: Support health and safety in a learning environment

• Plan and provide environments that support children and young people's health and safety
• Recognise and manage risks to health, safety and security in a learning environment or during off-site visits
• Support children and young people to assess and manage risk for themselves
• Appropriate responses for accidents, incidents, emergencies and illness in the learning environment and during off-site visits
• Own role in assisting in the administration of medication

Unit 3: Understand how to safeguard children and young people

• Legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding children and young people
• How to work in partnership with other organisations to safeguard children and young people
• The need to ensure children and young people's safety and protection in the learning environment
• How to respond to evidence or concerns that a child or young person has been abused or harmed
• How to work with children and young people to support their well being

Unit 4: Understand how children and young people develop

• Understand the expected pattern of development for children and young people from birth to 19 years
• Understand the factors that influence children and young people's development and how these affect practice
• Understand how to monitor children and young people's development and interventions that should take place if this is not following the expected pattern

This course provides successful students with a qualification from NCFE CACHE, regulated by Ofqual. NCFE CACHE is an Awarding Organisation recognised by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) in England and by the Welsh Government.

This is a knowledge based qualification suitable for support roles in schools, including site staff, administrators etc as well as those who work directly with children and young people.