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Child and Adolescent Issues

73221

This course is for people currently working or intending to work with children, adolescents and their families within government or community agencies in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Availability

Our distance learning courses are offered throughout the year to help you fit study around your work and life commitments.
Courses are offered up to 12 times per year depending on demand and availability of academic staff.
Exact start dates are in the course information pages and in our Enrolment dates page:

Enrolment dates

Cost

  • Course costs can be found on all course pages.  The fees may increase annually.
  • Qualification cost – to give you an idea of how much a qualification may cost in total over the duration of your studies, an approximate cost is provided for many of our qualifications. This is based on the required number of courses to complete the qualification and the average cost of those courses. It does not include annual administration fees, text books and course materials or external exam fees, and is subject to annual course fee increases. 

Credits

Courses are assigned credits depending on how much time and effort is needed to complete their learning outcomes. In general, each credit represents approximately 10 hours of study time.

Delivery method

  • Online – The course materials for online courses are delivered in an online format and all assignments are submitted online.
  • Mixed – These courses are delivered using a mix of online and paper based course materials. This may include receiving paper course materials, submitting  assignments online, or being required to participate in online forums and learning activities.
  • Print Only - The course will be delivered using paper based courses materials, and assignments may need to be submitted in hard copy rather than online. This will depend on the course.

Whether courses are delivered online, on paper or a mixture of both, there may also be components such as workshops, noho marae, work experience and practicum to participate in. To find out what your course involves check the course information page.

EFTS

EFTS stands for equivalent full-time student. An EFTS is the study time required for each course and is used by the Tertiary Education Commission to decide if a course is part-time or full-time. 

One year of full-time study is generally between 0.8 and 1.2 EFTS.

Level

You can tell how hard a course or qualification is by the level it is set at:

  • Levels 1-4 are about the same as secondary school and basic trades training.
  • Levels 5-7 are the same as university study.

Prerequisites

  • Prerequisites are courses that must be completed before another course can be studied. 
  • Co-requisites are courses that can be studied at the same time as another course.

If a course has a specific prerequisite or co-requisite course, it will be listed on the course page under the title 'Prerequisites'. If no courses are listed, check the entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying for. Some courses require you to have studied at a particular level prior to enrolling.

Student loans

Not all qualifications or students are eligible for student loans. You will need to meet criteria such as studying a minimum number of credits over a specific study period. It is up to you to apply for a student loan via StudyLink - Open Polytechnic does not do this for you.

Information about student loans and eligibility

StudyLink website

Teaching weeks

Teaching weeks is the number of weeks that we teach a course. This differs from the enrolment period, which is based on the course start and end dates.

For example, a 20-week enrolment period will have 16 teaching weeks, followed by four weeks to accommodate marking, any extensions and reassessments, or exams.

Workload

The workload estimate given on a course page is calculated like this:

Number of credits x 10, divided by the number of teaching weeks for the course. The hours will be rounded up to nearest whole number.

Please note, this is a guide only. You may need more or less time for study, and you may also need to do more hours during assessment due dates or exams times.

The course will provide you with an understanding of some of the issues children and adolescents experience that could require intervention. This will include a Māori  understanding of many of these issues.  

The course will consider how ecological issues such as whānau, family, educational, social, legal and political factors impact on children and adolescents.

You will develop a good understanding of the potential roles within key government agencies and how they work with children and adolescents. The course will cover some of the systems and interventions that have been put in place to respond to some of these issues. This includes the legal and ethical requirements of working with children and adolescents.  

What you will learn

When you successfully complete this course you will be able to:

  • critically analyse a range of issues involving children, adolescents and their families/whānau
  • discuss ethical and legal issues that impact on work with children and adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand
  • describe key agencies/organisations and systems that have a role in addressing some of the issues experienced by children, adolescents and their families/whānau.

Assessment

100% internal assessment 

Textbooks

No textbooks are required for this course

Computer and internet requirements

This course is delivered online, so you will access your course material and submit assessments online. Our online courses may include reading, videos, quizzes or activities, and you may need to download content.  

For online learning you need:

  • Access to a laptop or desktop computer
  • Reliable internet and data plan.

If you are unsure if your current computer or internet access allows you to complete your online learning with us, please contact us before applying to enrol.

Find out more about online learning

How to enrol

Before enrolling in this course you need to:

  • choose the qualification you will study the course under
  • check the order that courses in the qualification should be studied in the Qualification Structure table. This is in the Choose courses and apply tab on the qualification page.

Work towards

You can do this course as part of these qualifications:

Certificate of Proficiency
Bachelor's Degree

Course availability over the next 12 months

Sep

September enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
8 Sep 2026
21 Sep 2026
10 Jan 2027
Oct

October enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
6 Oct 2026
19 Oct 2026
7 Feb 2027
Nov

November enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
3 Nov 2026
16 Nov 2026
7 Mar 2027
Dec

December enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
8 Dec 2026
21 Dec 2026
11 Apr 2027
 2027
Jan

January enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
12 Jan 2027
25 Jan 2027
16 May 2027
Feb

February enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
9 Feb 2027
22 Feb 2027
13 Jun 2027
Mar

March enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
9 Mar 2027
22 Mar 2027
11 Jul 2027
Apr

April enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
6 Apr 2027
19 Apr 2027
8 Aug 2027
May

May enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
4 May 2027
17 May 2027
5 Sep 2027
Jun

June enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
8 Jun 2027
21 Jun 2027
10 Oct 2027
Jul

July enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
6 Jul 2027
19 Jul 2027
7 Nov 2027
Aug

August enrolment dates

Enrol by -
Course starts -
Course ends -
3 Aug 2027
16 Aug 2027
5 Dec 2027

Availability

Our distance learning courses are offered throughout the year to help you fit study around your work and life commitments.
Courses are offered up to 12 times per year depending on demand and availability of academic staff.
Exact start dates are in the course information pages and in our Enrolment dates page:

Enrolment dates

Cost

  • Course costs can be found on all course pages.  The fees may increase annually.
  • Qualification cost – to give you an idea of how much a qualification may cost in total over the duration of your studies, an approximate cost is provided for many of our qualifications. This is based on the required number of courses to complete the qualification and the average cost of those courses. It does not include annual administration fees, text books and course materials or external exam fees, and is subject to annual course fee increases. 

Credits

Courses are assigned credits depending on how much time and effort is needed to complete their learning outcomes. In general, each credit represents approximately 10 hours of study time.

Delivery method

  • Online – The course materials for online courses are delivered in an online format and all assignments are submitted online.
  • Mixed – These courses are delivered using a mix of online and paper based course materials. This may include receiving paper course materials, submitting  assignments online, or being required to participate in online forums and learning activities.
  • Print Only - The course will be delivered using paper based courses materials, and assignments may need to be submitted in hard copy rather than online. This will depend on the course.

Whether courses are delivered online, on paper or a mixture of both, there may also be components such as workshops, noho marae, work experience and practicum to participate in. To find out what your course involves check the course information page.

EFTS

EFTS stands for equivalent full-time student. An EFTS is the study time required for each course and is used by the Tertiary Education Commission to decide if a course is part-time or full-time. 

One year of full-time study is generally between 0.8 and 1.2 EFTS.

Level

You can tell how hard a course or qualification is by the level it is set at:

  • Levels 1-4 are about the same as secondary school and basic trades training.
  • Levels 5-7 are the same as university study.

Prerequisites

  • Prerequisites are courses that must be completed before another course can be studied. 
  • Co-requisites are courses that can be studied at the same time as another course.

If a course has a specific prerequisite or co-requisite course, it will be listed on the course page under the title 'Prerequisites'. If no courses are listed, check the entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying for. Some courses require you to have studied at a particular level prior to enrolling.

Student loans

Not all qualifications or students are eligible for student loans. You will need to meet criteria such as studying a minimum number of credits over a specific study period. It is up to you to apply for a student loan via StudyLink - Open Polytechnic does not do this for you.

Information about student loans and eligibility

StudyLink website

Teaching weeks

Teaching weeks is the number of weeks that we teach a course. This differs from the enrolment period, which is based on the course start and end dates.

For example, a 20-week enrolment period will have 16 teaching weeks, followed by four weeks to accommodate marking, any extensions and reassessments, or exams.

Workload

The workload estimate given on a course page is calculated like this:

Number of credits x 10, divided by the number of teaching weeks for the course. The hours will be rounded up to nearest whole number.

Please note, this is a guide only. You may need more or less time for study, and you may also need to do more hours during assessment due dates or exams times.