Case studies
Every mum has a natural talent for child development – I decided to turn mine into a career
Sarah Witts, OU BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies
Spending time at home bringing up my three children made me realise what my own mum had put into bringing me up – all the time and energy she'd put into teaching me to play games, read books, and understand things about the world.
As the children got older and started school I found I had more time on my hands and I started to take an interest in magazine articles on child development and programmes on TV. I also started going into their school some days to help out in the classroom. After seven years at home it did me good to be back in a work environment learning new skills.
One of the teachers suggested that I take things further by getting a qualification and handed me a leaflet about the OU. I went online and really liked the sound of it. I was a bit apprehensive to start with and thought I'd just do a little bit to see how I liked it.
I ended up loving it, I did two courses and got a Certificate in Early Years Practice. After that I was hooked, I just kept going until I got a BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies.
John Farrell, OU Certificate in Management student
I managed to get qualified for a new career while working full time, moving house, and training for a marathon
Chris Swain, BSc (Hons) IT and Computing
From forklifts to formulae - how the credit crunch got me out of the warehouse and into IT
