home study

[shelley85]

to cut a long story short i was studying at college when i got pregnant and gave up when i had dd, went to the jobcentre today and they said it is doubtful they could fund my course if i went back because they take into account paying for childcare. just wondering if anyone knew if they could fund a home learning course so that way they don't have to pay for a nursery for dd aswell. please help!!!

What kind of study were you doing? Was it further or higher education?

If higher education, \link{http://www.open.ac.uk\Open University} are great for home study. \link{http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/students/lon_lone_parents.shtml\Department for Education and Skills} pages have info on childcare grants etc. for Higher Education too.

Am not sure about Further Education - what course were you doing?

i was doing an nvq2 childcare which means i have to work full time for a training allowance of £40. so means i have to put dd in a nursery full time and as shes not 2 yet it costs the jobcentre a fortune. was thinking of doing a learn at home course in child psychology

I work in HE so I'm not an expert in FE funding, but the \link{http://www.dfes.gov.uk/youngpeople/fefs.shtml\DfES Further Education Funding} pages might be of use.
Try contacting the college you were at to see if you can apply to their Access to Learning or Learner Support funds for help with childcare.

Is there a college nursery? These are usually subsidised for students so you'd get a good rate, and are Ofsted inspected so you'll be able to access their report to see how it's rated.

Can't think of anything else, but hope this helps.

I believe the OU program have a good number of courses related to child psychology :

www3.open.ac.uk/courses/classifications/social_sciences_psychology_page.shtm

My last degree was spent half way pregnant and the other half raising a child with many health problems, so, is doable. I didn't get any help from the university, the subsidy for nursery's was not really much (won't cover the expenses od even a couple of days per month). But things may be slightly different for undergraduate students.

If I have had the option to do everithing again, I would choose the OU. Most of the time I spent while at Uni was spent chasing books and articles (too many students for so few library copies). The OU send you all the materials that saves loads of time. And, because they are used to deal with non-average students they are more understanding of students with strong family commitments.

I'm currently doing a home study computer programming course with ICS (International Correspondence Schools) and they do childcare courses. You can get further info by going to their website.