Curriculum Information

Document Version

QAA Benchmarks

Educational Aim

Learning Outcomes

Course Structure

Level 4 Modules

Level 5 Modules

Teaching and Assessment

Learning and Teaching Methods

Employer Engagement

Visiting Speakers

CAVC: Police Community Support Officers, Gwent Drugs and Addiction Service, ALN Hub Coordinator, Lucy Faithful Foundation, Widening Participation Team Leader Cardiff, Gangs and Youth Violence, Well-being Coordinator, Junior Apprentice Programme Manager, Safeguarding.

Volunteering

CAVC: Students who are not employed by their work placement are volunteering, providing 400 hours of voluntary work within their communities.

Fieldtrips

CAVC: Trips are provided to USW for freshers/ enrolment and for progression talks. Senedd, Butetown Pavilion, Butetown community area.

Work Placements

CAVC: Work placements vary from year to year based on student preference, employers and availability of work placements. Examples of placement organisations include:

Linc Cymru, Llamau, Youth Offending Teams, Youth Justice Appropriate Adult, Ytal y Fro, Adamsdown Youth Centre, North Ely Youth Centre, Catrefi Cymru, Cantonian High Inclusion Unit, CAVC Sport Clubs, Student Life Centre, Foundations for Learning, Emotional Wellbeing Service Cardiff, Huggard Centre, Ty Gobbaith, Northlands Life House, Junior Apprentice Programme (14-16yrs), Ysgol y Deri (special school), Pobl.

Work-based Learning

The Social Pedagogy in Placement 1 and 2 both require work-based learning, 400 hours or work-based practice is required with students observed and assessed in placement by course lectures and a work-based report provided by the organisation.

Employer Forums

CAVC: At our college we have an employer board titled: Employer Board for the Human Foundational Economy, this reflects one of the priority sectors identified by the Welsh Government.

Coleg Gwent: The Coleg Gwent’s Partnership Pledge is an enhanced industry initiative designed to strengthen industry links and expand our employer network across a range of sectors. The employers attend a termly forum to discuss industry needs and how they can support learners into work, this is managed by the Employment Engagement Coordinator.

The Employer Engagement Officers work closely with employers to ensure the needs of both employers and learners are met.

Means of Assessment

Formative Assessment

Formative assessments act as an ongoing extension of learning and teaching.? We recognise that student understanding evolves during module delivery and staff employ regular directed formative tasks, reading exercises, in-class formative peer-to -peer assessments, draft review and use of informal quizzes and challenges which helps student’s learning to evolve and be demonstrated outside of the formal summative assessment process.

Learning Support

Personal Academic Coach

CAVC: Learning Coaches are provided every day at the college for students to access via the Skills Centres. Learning Coach appointments can be booked in advance and there is also an opportunity to drop in when additional support is needed. Students have a pastoral tutor who monitors their attendance and achievement. The pastoral tutor provides support across each academic year of the course.

Coleg Gwent: Personal and Academic Coaches, and Higher Education Progression Officers provide learner support, in conjunction with the support given by the Course Lead.

Learner Analytics

CAVC: Attendance is monitored through the completion of register using the EBS Registers system. Summative grades are monitored through the college Markbook system on EBS. Grades are entered in USW grade forms for exam board provision. Engagement with the college Moodle can be monitored by the Moodle@cavc team and this is accessed when needed by the course leader Vicki MacMillan.

Coleg Gwent: CG use the EBS system to record learner attendance and ALN requirements. Grades are entered in USW grade forms for exam board provision.

Office hours

Students are aware of staff availability and as a rule staff make themselves available to students on both a booked appointment and impromptu basis.

CAVC: The main campus opening times at Cardiff City Centre are 08.30-17.00. The campus site stays open until 20.00 for students to study in the Success Centre library.

Coleg Gwent: Campus opening times are generally 8.30am-5.30pm with some campuses opening until 9pm for evening classes. Libraries are manned until 4.30pm and a self-service checkout system is in place after that time so learners can book out and return books.

Progress meetings

These are held with students as part of their individual tutorial sessions.

CAVC: Progress is reviewed as part of the pastoral role and targets are set on the student’s individual learning plan (ILP) housed on EBS.

Coleg Gwent: One to one sessions are scheduled twice yearly to assess learner achievement and wellbeing. HE Assessment Boards are held by the HoS and Course Leads to evaluate learner progress and instigate intervention support if necessary.

Research Supervision

CAVC: The Applied Research module requires research supervision and this is provided by the module leader during arranged 1:1 supervision meetings that are built into the module.

Coleg Gwent: Research supervision will be provided by the module lead.

Online Resources

Online reading lists complement the use of?library?facilities and are?frequently?updated on all modules.?Relevant?resources?are emailed out to cohorts as and when they are identified.

CAVC: We provide online database access and e-book access via the Moodle and in addition we support students to engage with USW Findit. Additional module reading sources are provided via the course Teams page to students.

Coleg Gwent: Provides a vast range of online resources through the virtual library, including journal search and course related online applications. The Canvas virtual learning environment (VLE) is extensively used on the programme to enhance the student learning experience. Apart from its widespread use as a repository for learning material and resources, the VLE is used to engage students in their own learning using wikis, blogs and discussion groups. In addition, the VLE will be used in formative assessment with the use of quizzes and self-diagnostic tests. It is also valuable as a means of communicating with students and posting information of a more general nature.

This complements the USW Online resources available to the learner via blackboard and Unilearn.

Advice Zone

Students are signposted and supported to access the Advice Zone at any campus?either?in person or online. The course team work closely with the Advice Zone colleagues in terms of student support, EC,?well-being?needs etc.

The College offers a number of free and professional support services including information, advice and guidance on:

Learning Support

Student Finance

Counselling

Welfare & Wellbeing (example below)

Careers

This information is also extensively communicated via the Coleg Gwent website, the My Day VLE and covered during induction.

Disability

CAVC: The College has a Disability Support Service hosted within the ALN Hub at our City Centre Campus and this is open to all CAVC students who need and support and advice about the additional learning needs and/or disabilities. This ALN Team can support any student with a disability and/or specific learning difficulty. The support may be in/out of class and would include supporting learners with – visual/hearing impairment, mobility issues, ADHD, autism, Asperger’s, mental health problems, serious illness etc.

Higher Education Students may be eligible to apply for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA), which provides the funding for support. We provide support with applications for the Disabled Student Allowance through our Wellbeing Teams.

CAVC has an Equality and Diversity policy and it is an inclusive College with a commitment to fair opportunities for learning and employment. We will produce materials that are accessible, inclusive and understandable. CAVC develop inclusive teaching and learning practices for all learners.

Coleg Gwent: The college?is?committed to maintaining a respectful community where our learners and staff can learn, develop and grow in a?nurturing and safe place, and one where our differences are celebrated.

This means making sure that:

Everyone enjoys their time while working for Coleg Gwent.

Everyone is supported to reach their full potential and achieve to the best of their ability.

No one is treated less favourably on the grounds of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age, religion or belief, pregnancy/maternity status, lifestyle, social background, country of origin, or language.

We recognise that in society some groups experience discrimination. The College takes a zero-tolerance approach to any behaviours of this kind.

Ultimately, we strive to ensure?that equality, diversity and inclusion is?at the heart of everything we do.

Coleg Gwent provides supports across numerous areas to support students in their studies. Services include: Financial Advice, Disability & Dyslexia support, Counselling, Safeguarding and Welfare support, one to one Numeracy, Literacy and IT support. This is provided by a number of team members across departments.

The Higher Education Progression Officers and Learner Services Team are also available to support learners to complete and support learners that need/have DSA assessments.

IT/Library

CAVC: Students are provided with induction to help them to use CAVC Teams, Moodle and the CAVC Student app. There are also digital resources via the Student Portal and Moodle.

Students are encouraged to use the Success Centre (library) at any and all campus sites in addition to their City Centre home campus. Students are also encouraged to access USW library and IT facilities.

Students are encouraged to use the library facilities?at?USW.

CAVC provides Success Centres on five campuses at CAVC:,

• City Centre Campus, Cardiff

• Colcot Road Campus, Barry

• International Centre for Aerospace Training (ICAT)

• Cardiff International Sports Campus (CISC)

• Eastern Community Campus (ECC)

All Success Centres have a library, bookable desktop and laptop pcs, iPads, individual and group study areas, printers/scanners, laminating and binding services. Learners can also get assistance with IT issues, printing and scanning.

Learners can purchase stationery from the Barry, ICAT, CISC and ECC Success Centres. Stationery at the City Centre Campus is available from the Simply Fresh shop.

There is a free mobile app allowing learners to search the library catalogue, reserve resources and renew their loans.

Study Support

Within the Success Centres, there are Skills Centres at each campus which are open to learners at all levels of study. These are drop-in facilities offering support with literacy, ESOL, numeracy/mathematics, digital skills and study skills. Students can arrange for one-to-one support with a Learning Coach in addition to accessing the drop-in services. The Learning Coaches also offer bookable information literacy workshops on research skills, presentation skills, referencing, time management and essay planning/academic writing.

Coleg Gwent: On each of the five Campuses there are fully stocked Learning Resource Centre’s (LRC’s), the proposed provision will be offered from the Crosskeys Campus. Each of the learning centres provide a centre for information and guidance, while acting as support bases for student centred learning. Resources are updated continually in consultation with subject tutors and via reading lists from the partner universities.

Students can access both the College’s VLE Canvas and the University VLE to access learning materials and assessments to support their learning.

The LRC at the Crosskeys Campus houses open access PC’s and a laptop trolley with laptops that are available for learners to borrow should this be required. Wi-Fi access is also available. The LRC houses a quiet study area where silent study is required to encourage independent self-initiated reflection on performance.

Each of the College Campuses house a HE Hub facility; this is a designated space specifically for higher education learners. The space facilitates, group work area’s, ICT facilities, independent reflection space. Within the Hub space’s there are also learner welfare and personal progression support services offered which relate to current College support campaigns.

Course Exit Points

Progression Route

From Foundation to Honours:BA (Hons) Working with Children and FamiliesBSc (Hons) Criminology & Criminal Justice and Youth JusticeBA (Hons) Public Services

Entry Requirements

Admission to the course is typically through the following qualifications:

These are the Entry requirements as communicated to potential students at CAVC:

Applications to the course will be considered on an individual basis. Typical entry requirements are detailed below but if you do not meet these criteria, then your work and life experience will be taken into consideration. Combinations of the qualifications below are acceptable and other qualifications not listed may also be acceptable. Typical A-Level Offer – DD. Typical BTEC Offer - relevant BTEC level 3 profile of Merit/Pass or Pass/Pass/Pass. The Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in place of one A-level at the grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements. Typical Access to HE Offer – Pass Diploma with 45 credits at level 3 in a related subject. Additionally, GCSE passes in three subjects at grade C or above to include Mathematics and English Language (or equivalent). A successful interview may also be a requirement for entry onto the course.

These are the Entry requirements as communicated to potential students at Coleg Gwent :

Applicants usually need at least one of the following:

48 UCAS points - UCAS tariff calculator?https://www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator

Access to HE where you have achieved a Pass Diploma with 45 Passes

Plus: GCSE passes in three subjects at grade C or above to include Maths and English Language (or equivalent).

Please note that if you do not meet the grade criteria, then age and experience may be able to be taken into consideration.

Will students be required to undergo a DBS check?

Yes

If yes, please specify whether an enhanced or standard DBS is required

Enhanced as student will be expected to work with children and/or vulnerable adults

Inclusive Curriculum Statement

The University of South Wales operates a policy of inclusive learning, teaching and assessment to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to fulfil their educational potential. Course teams will have considered ways of designing out any potentially disadvantageous element of courses during the course design process. However some specific needs may remain, details about how to apply to have your needs assessed can be found at: http://unilife.southwales.ac.uk/pages/3040-disability-and-dyslexia-service/

Addendum for Delivery at a Partner Institution

N/A