Foundations for social work practice
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| 8 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | 3 Interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs) |
| End-of-course assessment | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees may vary by country.
Summary
This course is part of the Open University degree in Social Work for students in Wales. It can be studied as a standalone course but if you wish to gain the BA (Hons) Social Work (Wales) you must be sponsored by your employing agency and successfully complete the selection process. The course helps you to develop the foundation knowledge and skills of social work with particular emphasis on key roles: Prepare for assessment of need; and Support representation and advocacy. You will undertake a 20-day assessment of your fitness to practise that can be assessed by a practice assessor or by an ‘Alternative Evidence for Practice’ route.
Course content
This course is a compulsory component of the BA (Hons) Social Work (Wales). It is one of two courses that together make up the first level of the three-level programme approved by the Care Council for Wales.
Together with An introduction to health and social care (K101) (or the discontinued course K100/KZX100), the course will:
- develop awareness of the four components of good practice: knowledge; values and ethics; skills; and social work processes
- demonstrate awareness of relating theory to practice through a variety of assessment methods
- enable you to learn from other resource materials in the programme, so that you can meet the learning requirements at Level 1.
While K101 develops your study skills so that you can apply knowledge to practice, KZW113 concentrates more on writing about practice and learning how to apply theoretical learning to practice contexts. It gives you the opportunities to develop awareness of the practice relevance of six key roles of social work as defined by the National Occupational Standards. Particular emphasis is given to key role: Prepare for, and work with individuals, families, carers, groups and communities to assess their needs and circumstances and key role: Support individuals to represent their needs, views and circumstances. The Social Work degree requires students to develop ECDL (European Computer Driving License) equivalent skills. The majority of this skills development will take place during this course. The course will also help to develop information literacy skills.
The course draws upon case-study based teaching but also assumes you will be working in a practice context through which you can contextualise your learning. You must demonstrate an awareness and understanding of diversity and inequality and develop an awareness of yourself as a reflective practitioner.
Entry
For those who are undertaking the course as part of the Social Work degree; you must be registered for the BA (Hons) Social Work (Wales) with the University, and be registered as a Social Work student with the Care Council for Wales.
If you have been sponsored onto this course your sponsoring agency will provide you with appropriate practice learning opportunities (or you can undertake the ‘Alternative Evidence for Practice’) and undertake to allow you one day a week study time for 120 CATs points study while you are on the programme. (There will be a pro-rata reduction in the entitlement of study time allowed if you are studying less than 120 CATs points per year). The Practice Assessor must be a holder of (or working towards) a relevant post-qualifying award in social work and a qualified social worker with two years’ post-qualifying experience.
Further information for sponsoring agencies will be available from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
You will receive guidance of how to get started online in your first course mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your course website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the course starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.
Qualifications
KZW113 is a compulsory course in our
We advise you to refer to the relevant award descriptions for information on the circumstances in which the course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements of a qualification may change. Upon successful completion of KZW113 and K101 (or K(ZX)100) you will automatically be awarded the Certificate of Higher Education in Social Care (Wales).
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Large print versions of the course materials can be provided on request. Other alternative formats of the course materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course books, other printed materials and CDs. You will have access to a course website through which teaching and library resources are available. Electronic versions of most of the printed course materials are provided on the course website.
You will need
A CD player.
Please note that all course guidance for ICT activities is written for Microsoft Office 2000 or 2003 software.
For more details on the use of computing on this course and the Social Work Degree you can download a copy of the guidance.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.
You will need internet access and a computer with Microsoft Office installed. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you cannot use an Apple Mac or Linux computer unless it is running Windows using Boot Camp or similar.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. Part of your tuition is delivered online so some of the contact with your tutor will be through email and online discussion forums, although phone communication may also be used. If you are new to the OU, you will find that your tutor is particularly concerned to help you with your study methods. Your course tutor will run eight obligatory workshops. Requests for excusal from a workshop are dealt with by the tutor who is running it. In addition to the eight workshops, you will be expected to participate in your online tutor group discussion forum for workshop-learning consolidation exercises. Questions of a professional, social work nature should be directed to your tutor. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
To pass the course, you must have passed the 20-day assessment of fitness to practise (TMA 14).
The computer-marked assignments (CMAs) are accessed via the course website. You will be able to write your assessed work in either Welsh or English. It is a condition of the course assessment that to pass the course you must not have engaged in behaviour that is confirmed as being damaging or dangerous to service users or to other students or programme providers, or that creates an unacceptable risk to yourself or to others.
You must pass both KZW113 and K101 (or K(ZX)100) in order to progress to Level 2.
Professional recognition
This is one of a set of courses that together constitute an approved programme leading to a Degree in Social Work endorsed by the Care Council for Wales.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2011. We expect it to be available at the same time once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
An undergraduate course in Health and Social Care.
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