Guest Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 I have just received all the E115 course materials and wondered if I was alone in thinking 'YIKES!!! Have I done the right thing?!'
Guest Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Can I ask.... what is an E115 course???!!!!!!!!
HappyMaz Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Can I ask.... what is an E115 course???!!!!!!!! Open University course I believe, Scarlettangel!
Sue R Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 I have just received all the E115 course materials and wondered if I was alone in thinking 'YIKES!!! Have I done the right thing?!' All I can do is weakly nod in agreement!!!!!!
Sue R Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 It's sort of more like NVQ, portfolio/evidence based, but assignments too. Called 'Personal Professional Development: Early Years Settings' Don't ask for more, still finding out........ Geraldine may be able to make more sense. I've still got the final piece to do for current course.
belle06 Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Hi E115 is okay once you get your head round the terminology and the EYCLO's (early years core learning outcomes) the best bit of advice i would give any one for E115 is make sure you keep your Evidence file upto date some are called in to be viewed at the end of the course and there is nothing worse than trying to do your ECA and get the file caught up to send off. E115 was good preparation for when you do E215 and a lot of your evidence can be reused. Good luck with the course if i can be of any help give me a shout.
Gezabel Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) Hi Thinking 'YIKES' when first looking at E115 sounds spot on to me!! I remember very similar thoughts so please don't panic! I am in a bit of a rush right now as I have to get ready for my OU tutorial tomorrow. I have a whole day out! Tutorial in the morning and then I am going to an OU 'exam skills workshop' in the afternoon as I am sitting my first OU exam on October 10th Somwhere on another thread I think I have written in depth about E115 but now I will say don't worry. Just take it a bit at a time and you will soon get used to the acronyms and will be dropping WBLF, PEF, EYCLO's and a few more into conversation as though you had always known them. I firmly believe the key to E115 is to be organised from the beginning. It is not a difficult course in terms of academic study but it does involve alot of paperwork so organisation of your files and keeping them up to date is a REALLY good idea. Happy to answer any questions. Sure I have said this before too but I have done E123, E124, E115 (level 1)E243, E230, E215 {level 2) (got the Foundation Degree for that lot!) I am now doing KE312 my first level 3 and providing I pass the dreaded exam will have a BA in Early years by Christmas:-) Next year I am doing my final course EK311 and all being well will have BA (Hons) Good luck to everyone starting E115 (or any other course for that matter!) I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :wacko: Edited September 5, 2008 by Geraldine
Gezabel Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Me again! Just remembered I wrote a long blurb answering a question 'what is E115 about'. I can't find it now and only know that I replied to Helen in a thread ..... somewhere Sure some very clever person could find it and do a 'you can find it here' but my technical skills are not quite that advanced ...yet!
Guest Posted September 5, 2008 Posted September 5, 2008 Thanks everyone...I think I will need all the support I can get but I do know where to come! Your post is here Geraldine http://www.foundation-stage.info/forums/in...showtopic=14142 except I don't know how to do it as a link!!! Sorry!HERE
dublinbay Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 I'm in the same boat too!! I have just finished tma03 for E124 and will hand it over tomorrow at my tutorial in Derby...............today actually!! I've had a quick look at E115 and boy does it look scarey! Not going to go too far into it just yet though as I'll be concentrating on the ECA for E124 first. Too tired now...........must go. Good luck everyone!
Guest Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 Just coming to the end of E124 & E123.....have thought about E115 but I've decided to wait as I've now got 2 members of staff starting their NVQ 3 and as I'm going to be their in-house assessor I may be putting a little too much on my plate!!!
Sue R Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 I think that's very wise! I've just found out I'm having an op within the next three months - which may interfere with the course. Going to ring OU later to see what they have to say ...
dublinbay Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 I think that's very wise! I've just found out I'm having an op within the next three months - which may interfere with the course. Going to ring OU later to see what they have to say ... Sorry to hear that Sue.........hope your recovery time will be short and sweet! Did you manage to finish TMA03 in time? Just back from tutorial in Derby and ready to start on the ECA......Not looking forward to that.
Sue R Posted September 6, 2008 Posted September 6, 2008 Thanks, yes, got it finished, but now stressing about ECA!!! Why do we do this ? Sue
Guest Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Hiya all I have also recived my course material for E115 I think you will be seeing a bit more of me on her lol lol
dublinbay Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Hi Snowbell. Don't remember welcoming you before so .........welcome to the forum! Good luck for starting your E115............you're in good company!
Deb Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 Count me in - have only opened the box for the course materials - so not stressing yet - ignorance is bliss! Hey - we have each other ! We can do anything! A glass of wine also helps to lift my spirits.
Guest Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 Hi all, This is my first post so I apologise in advance if anything goes wrong! I think I must be a bit behind the rest of you as I only received my 'box of tricks' for E115 last week. Had a look at it over the weekend and was quite shocked to find that the first three TMAs have got to be in by October 17th. I only hope they are not like the TMAs from E123 and E124 or I'm sunk before I start! Anyway, good luck to everyone doing the E115 (or any other course). Sarah
Gezabel Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 Don't worry Sarah Three TMA's by 17th October sounds horrific doesn't it I think if you look at the assessment guide you will find that TMA 1 and 2 are literally just paperwork From memory TMA 1 is a signed copy of your permisssion agreement form and TMA 2 is a signed copy of your confirmer agreement form. I would highly recommend that you read the instructions really carefully ( no offence meant!) because each of these forms is classed as a TMA and you will need to ensure you enclose an assignment checklist for both of them When I studied the course there were a few who failed assignments, not because their TMA's were poor but because they didn't include the necessary accompanying paperwork Hope this helps and good luck with the course - it's a good one!!!
Guest Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 Gosh I seem to have missed this posting at the beginning of the month, but so glad I've found it now! I received my box too - opened it and thought ARGH!!!!! Panic struck! Have closed it all up again as I need to get my E124 ECA sorted. Looks like we'll be meeting up on here a lot for E115 help. Thanks to Geraldine for your advice. No doubt speak to you soon. I'm in Cheshire, anyone else doing the OU E115 from Cheshire? Tutorials in Manchester October 11th? If so, see you there.
Gezabel Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 I TOTALLY understand the feeling of 'panic' surrounding E115 but at the same time I know from experience that it does all fall into place quite quickly :wacko: I remember my early days of E115 and with the benefit of hindsight I still sometimes get cross with myself for getting in a bit of a tizz about it all. If I can do anything to allay your fears I am more than happy to do so and believe me no question that comes to mind regarding E115 will be seen by me as 'silly' - you should see some of the ones I asked at the beginning Feel free to shout on here or PM me but I might be a little slow in replying as I am buried in revision - well supposed to be Having finished my foundation degree with the OU I have carried on and have just sent my 6th and final TMA for KE312 my first level 3 course :rolleyes: I just have the little matter of my first OU exam on October 10th
dublinbay Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 Good luck with your exam Geraldine.......with so much study behind you I expect you'll fly through it! Just wanted to thank you for sharing your invaluable experience of the OU pathway to the FD. There does seem to be a lot of us starting the E115 and we are so lucky to have you to allay our fears and trepidation of this latest course. Many thanks Geraldine.........and good luck with yours too.
Deb Posted September 23, 2008 Posted September 23, 2008 Good luck with your first exam Geraldine and thank you so much for steadying our nerves regarding E115.
Deb Posted September 23, 2008 Posted September 23, 2008 Has anybody thought about how you are going to organise your WBLF Work based learning folder? Model 1 in the part 1 seems easier although Model 2, recording your learning against each EYCLO, seems to me might be better in the long run. Geraldine, in your experience, which way was most popular?
Gezabel Posted September 23, 2008 Posted September 23, 2008 Oh happy memories of my WBLF and PEF I went for model 2 for my WBLF - well kind of! It is finding something that works for you and whatever you choose the secret is to be organised with your file keeping from day one. With the WBLF the models given are only suggestions. I had 12 numbered dividers, one for each EYCLO and on the front of each divider I typed the name of the EYCLO so as you progress through the course you will get to know which EYCLO is which I also had another section that I used to record all my course activity and other notes and I split this into the parts of the course. For each 'part' I made little tabs that I stuck on the top of more dividers with the 'stage' on. It isn't anything like as complicated as I am making it sound! A divider with tab on the right hand side would be 'Part 1' and all relevant work put in that section but there are 'stages' to each 'part.' As you go through the course it says thinngs like 'in stage 2 part 1 we looked at ......' and then it was sooo easy for me to refer back to my notes. I went to divider 'part 1' and within that section I had little tabs at the top 'stage 1' etc. The organisation of your PEF comes lataer ( activity 2.?? I think!) but just thought it might be worth saying that it is really important that you follow the guidelines for this. Your PEF is quite 'formal' and can be seen by you, your confirmer or the OU. The OU can ask to see your PEF at any time during the course. (It isn't marked though). OU requests for PEF's are done randomly and many students never get asked, others get asked during the course and others when the course has ended. I got asked to send mine in near the end of the course and thankfully it was fine and met the criteria but others had to make adjustments and then send them in again - this was simply because they hadn't followed the guidelines! It says write a brief description of your role for the front page so simple though it sounds, don't leave it out your file would be sent back!!! For now I would suggest setting up your WBLF in a way that suits your style of working, you can always change it as your study progresses. It was a while before I thought of adding my 'stages' tabs. In the later activities I needed to go back and couldn't find 'Part 2 stage 3' with ease so adjusted my WBLF so that it worked better. Thank you for your good luck messages for my exam I REALLY appreciate them. I have to write three essays in three hours and the last official exam I sat was my NNEB in the year dot!!!!!!!
Guest Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Hiya all, Has anyone started on the table for TMA 03 yet?? Unsure which way to go about it, in column one i've put all my training, knowledge and skills. Column two is where i'm unsure what do to put in??? I've put things like Record/note phone calls from other professional, evaluation sheets, planning, observations and policies. i'm i on the right track or i'm i away of the mark Any help would be greatly recived Snowbell
rosepetal Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 Hi, Just wanted to say, I have received my E115 course work as well. It did seem very daunting when I first opened it and read through it. I am just concerned about getting time in my work place to getting all my evidence together on a daily basis as I am the manager and every day is just so busy. But I know I will find a way to over come my concerns. Geraldine, I always read your posts with great interest and find you an inspiration. I wish you well in your exam. You are proof that us slightly more mature ladies can do it. You also have a wealth of knowledge which you very kindly share. Looking forward to sharing and supporting everyone on the E115 course. Rosepetal
Guest Posted September 27, 2008 Posted September 27, 2008 Thanks for the advice Geraldine. I opened the box, panicked (should I be on this course when I can't even work out which file to put the paperwork in?) and shut it again. Have decided not to peep until I have finished my E124 ECA. Speaking of which I shoul not even be on this site, but am really stuggling on starting and planning this ECA. Kate
Recommended Posts