How I now undertake my role has been transformed by my studies on the EdD

I am Executive Director of Jersey Child Care Trust, a local charity putting families first in Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. The charity makes a big difference for children living with disabilities and/or adversity and our programmes enable children to have their best start.

In addition to leading the charity, my role involves considerable partnership work to progress the child and family agenda in the Island with policy makers, legislators, organisation leads as well as children and families. How I now undertake this role has been transformed by my studies with the University of Sheffield.

The early childhood education master’s degree at Sheffield had been in my mind for several years! Two Jersey colleagues had previously undertaken the same course at Sheffield and they had been such advocates of the course and how it developed their knowledge and skills.

I am now one of those advocates! The quality of the teaching and the design of the course far exceeded my expectations and they were high to begin with. The course and the quality of the tutors pushed me to academic places I never thought possible with my development of knowledge, ways of learning and my subsequent application of these in my professional (and personal) life.

I completed the studies whilst working full time, with a busy family life and this really tested me! Finding an additional 20 hours most weeks (there are some quieter weeks) meant very little ‘down time’ but at the end of each module, the sense of achievement feels incredible and is quite addictive.

Although the pandemic stopped two of the three study weekends in Sheffield, I was so grateful to attend the first study weekend to meet the tutors and my fellow students, who were literally from all four corners of the world.

The support that they gave me was so crucial to my developing confidence in what and how I was learning.

I feel that the skills and knowledge that I developed on this course are with me for life and has added rigour to how I see the world and approach everything and everyone, personally and professionally.