Course Assignments

The course consists of five Modules, each with one Assignment:

The Course Assignments have been specially prepared so that they can easily be completed by students who follow the five Modules.

Each assignment should be sent to your tutor by email. If you do not have an email account, you can obtain a free one at www.hotmail.com

Assignments for the Regular/Standard route

Students following the Regular/Standard route are asked to write an Assignment of 500-600 words at the end of each Module (Five Assignments in all). These are not expected to take the form of planned academic essays, but should be a personal response to the content of the Module. Students are encouraged to contribute from their own experience in their writing.

Assignments for the Practical Route

The Practical Route involves students in doing Exercises with a child or teenager. This may be a child that the student is working with in school or may be a student's own child.

There are more than 50 Practical Exercises spread throughout the course. Students may do as many as they wish, but must select and complete three to be assessed for each Module (15 Practical Exercises in all), writing 100-150 words of notes on each Exercise.

A mixture of Assignments

As each Module is studied, students may choose whether they wish to do it in the Regular/Standard way or in the Practical way. A student may do a Regular assignment for one Module, but choose to do three Practical Exercises for the next Module.

Spelling

Whilst correct spelling does not form part of the assessment, and spelling errors will be ignored in the grading of assessments, work should be spell-checked before submission.

Students without a computer at home

Students who do not have a computer at home should use an Internet cafe or a friend's computer to send in their assignments. Assignments are not accepted by mail/post.

Grades/Assessment

Assignments will normally be assessed within two or three days, but not later than within fourteen days of receipt, and a grade and comments returned to the student. There are two possible grades - Pass and Repeat. If an Assignment is graded as 'Repeat', the course tutor will provide suggestions for improvement. Assignments assessed as 'Repeat' may be re-submitted any number of times by a student.

Completion of the Assignments

The course is administered by distance learning, and may be taken anywhere in the world. The course allows students to move house while they are taking the course, and allows for gaps in learning. Whilst the recommended time for completion of the course is six months, all the course Assignments must be completed within a twelve month period unless there are unusual circumstances (in which case aditional time will be allowed).

Advice about Study Skills is to be found on the CD-Rom, and should be read by students before starting the course.