Starting this month, a range of Saturday courses have been launched, designed for adults to gain practical knowledge of caring for animals either for personal interest or as a prelude to working in a variety of settings including kennels, catteries, zoos, as a vets’ nurse or in animal husbandry roles.
The first course on Saturday 25 March is the Animal Care – Health and Husbandry in Small Animals Level 1. During the day, students will gain practical knowledge of caring for rabbits and guinea pigs. Basic animal nutrition, feeding and housing will be shown as well as how to provide a balanced diet to small animals as well as maintaining their living environments, comfort and safety.
This same course will run again on Saturday 15 April, but this will focus on reptile care and the course which is running on Saturday 20 May will concentrate on how to look after rodents. All courses run from 9.30am to 2.30pm.
The course, which costs £15 per person, will also prepare students with identifying and treating common health problems and how to handle small animals. A range of basic veterinary concepts, such as recognising illness and injury will be taught, alongside demonstrations, lectures and hands-on practical sessions.
Students will be able to engage in class discussion, ask questions and get practical knowledge through an interactive and engaging day of learning at the Derby Road based campus.
This same course will run again on Saturday 15 April and Saturday 20 May, from 9.30am to 2.30pm.
The Animal Care Introduction to Animal Nursing Level 1 will be running on Saturday 15 July, which is ideal for adults who are looking to pursue a career as a veterinary nurse or simply want to gain an understanding of animal care to help look after their own pets.
It is also ideal for those wishing to study veterinary nursing or animal care at college or university. Essential skills such as handling, restraint, health checking a variety of animal, basic anatomy and physiology and surgical instrument care and identification and fluid therapy techniques will be taught on this course.
This course will cost £22 per person and is suitable for adults aged 19 and over.
For all of these courses if you are aged 19 and over (on 31 August 2022) and are either unemployed and in receipt of qualifying benefits or employed and earning less than £18,525 per year, the tuition fees for these courses are waived. That means you can attend these courses for free, giving you the opportunity to learn valuable skills without worrying about the cost.
Programme area leader for animal care Polly Wiltshire said: “These one-day sessions are ideal for those people who wish to take a step into the world of animal care. This can be with a view to moving forwards to studying further or simply for those who have a passion for caring for their own animals. Maybe you already work with animals in a junior setting and wish to start to build up your learning portfolio.
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming new adult students to our growing animal care unit where we can provide this new range of one-day programmes.”
To find out more call 0808 100 3626 or visit https://wnc.ac.uk/Courses/Search-Results.aspx?attendance=PT&subarea=26