Sarah Jane Perry was encouraged to study a HNC in construction management and technology by her manager, who had recently completed the degree course at Coleg Sir Gâr.
As a mature student, she was apprehensive but with small classes and supportive peers and staff, Sarah Jane was on the right path.
“I had made a career change and the subject was still relatively new to me and I feared that may not be taken seriously as a woman in the industry,” said Sarah Jane.
“The classes were intimate, making it easy to build relationships with my peers and lecturers and the content has strengthened my understanding of practices in the workplace.”
During the course, Sarah Jane was expecting her first child but decided to stay on to complete her degree as she didn’t want to delay gaining her qualification.
Helen Jeffrey, lecturer in construction management said:
“Sarah Jane was managing childcare of her new baby alongside completing her academic work and we felt it was only right that we should support her as much as possible.
“As we use Google classroom, every session was available for Sarah Jane to access remotely and we kept in regular contact to go over any content. I let Sarah Jane know my timetable so she could call in for a face to face meeting when I was free if she needed to.
“More recently, as we changed to online delivery due to the Covid-19 lockdown, Sarah Jane has been able to join us for lessons as normal – or as childcare has allowed!
“We also record the sessions and post videos on Google classroom for her to watch when she has time.”
Sarah Jane Perry added:
“I’ve just completed the penultimate year of my BSc, had my first baby and my tutor has supported me throughout the whole process.”
Visit: www.colegsirgar.ac.uk
