Newman University Student Successes!

Two students studying the Teaching & Learning Support Foundation Degree at Cardinal Newman are celebrating after being accepted onto the Bridge to BA QTS course at Cumbria University.

The course is specifically designed for students who have studied a Foundation Degree in Teaching and Learning Support, and want to take a less traditional route into Primary teaching. It aims to enable students to progress directly to the final year of the BA Hons in Primary Education with QTS, which will see them graduate in 2018 as fully qualified primary teachers.

Rebecca Maddox and Lauren Cowell were both part of the first group of students to under-take what was then the brand-new Foundation Degree. The pair have been studying the two year Foundation Degree at Cardinal Newman, with the aim of pursuing a career as a primary teacher at the end of their studies. Rebecca knew she wanted to do a degree after finishing her A Levels, and after looking at her University options she decided that she didn’t want to move away from home. She discovered the Foundation Degree course at Newman and got signed up straight away, as she knew it offered the right type of study for her. Before receiving her A Level results, Rebecca had already secured a job as a Teaching Assistant which meant she was ready to start on the Teaching and Learning Support Foundation Degree.

Lauren completed the Health and Social Care BTEC at Cardinal Newman, and then secured a job working as a Teaching Assistant at Hillside Specialist School and College. She was enjoying her work, but decided she would like to further her career, so she decided to embark on the Foundation Degree in Teaching and Learning Support as she wanted to be able to work whilst she continued with her education. The course was perfect for her as it has enabled her to put everything that she has been learning into practice back in the classroom.

The pair will be amongst the first to graduate from the Foundation Degree and now plan to head off to Cumbria to complete the Bridging course, before undertaking the final year of the BA Hons in Primary Education with QTS and becoming fully qualified Primary Teachers. What a fantastic achievement for them both and a great advertisement for the Foundation Degrees at Cardinal Newman!