Pre-school Learning Alliance
Partners in this project were Luton Adult Education Family Learning and Skills for Life. The students were all women from the Marsh Farm area of Luton that were from a very mixed cultural background. The project set out to provide a Level 1 Childcare course, and a recognised literacy qualification, linked by the use of laptop computers and digital cameras. The two courses ran alternate weeks over a 30-week period and 11 candidates completed both courses. The childcare course provided was the Cache Level 1 Award in Getting Started in a Pre-school Setting.
This course aimed to provide the basic knowledge required to participate effectively in a pre-school setting. The objectives of the course were to:
- Recognise how pre-school can provide learning opportunities for both children and parents.
- Describe the management of pre-school settings, including the legislation within which they should work.
- Describe how pre-school supports children's learning and development.
- Describe how the adults in the pre-school environment should interact with the children.
- Digital cameras were used to record information and then downloaded pictures onto a laptop.
- Students were able to recognise their own learning through the completion of a learning diary.
Visits to the project showed that the ICT equipment was being used effectively and the learners were increasing their ICT skills as a result. It was hoped that the achievement of these qualifications, together with improved IT skills, would increase the learner's self-esteem and confidence enough to encourage them to continue their learning to the next levels. As a result of attending this course, some of the learners are keen to continue into the Level 2 course.
The Project Manager of this course was Jan Richardson on 01954 232327 email: Jan.Richardson@pre-school.org.uk
