Students at Truro and Penwith College are training to change children’s lives, combining classroom learning with weekly placements in nurseries and schools on the T Level in Education and Early Years.
Among those on the course are four friends, Kannon, Millie, Maddie and Paige, who are all working towards careers supporting children. Maddie and Paige have known each other since nursery, where their mums became friends, and they went through primary school together before moving on to Redruth School. Kannon and Millie have been close since secondary school at Penair.
Now they are studying the T Level in Education side by side, on different pathways. Millie and Maddie are on the Early Years Educator pathway and spend their placement days in nurseries. Kannon and Paige are on the Assisting Teaching pathway, where they work at primary and secondary schools.
“You learn as you do it,” says Millie. “You build up your understanding step by step and work out what your way of teaching is.”
For Paige, the rewards are in the small moments. A child in her class was struggling to write between the lines on the page. “We put a highlighter in between the blue lines, so they knew where the letters go,” she says. “And they’ve managed to do it on their own now.”
Maddie first got a taste of working with children on work experience, and the T Level lets her do much more of it. “I just loved it,” she says. “It was so enjoyable to be there with all these children, with the smiles on their faces and the fact that they remembered my name.”
The course is also opening doors. Millie is looking at going to Norland to train as a nanny. Maddie is thinking about becoming a play therapist, and Paige is planning to visit a university open day to find out more about speech and language therapy. Kannon is still seeing where his path takes him, but knows he wants to enrich children’s lives. “My course gives me so many options,” says Maddie. “I could really go either way.”
Back in College, students learn from lecturers with experience across the sector. Recently, as part of T Level week 2026, lecturer Dr Sasha Tregenza led a hands-on session for Early Years Educator students, using activities designed to build children’s motor skills and support their development. Dr Tregenza has a career spanning early years, primary and higher education, and has co-authored published research.
The students say College has helped them feel part of something. “After the first couple of weeks, everyone sort of finds their place,” says Millie. Maddie says she worried she’d forgotten how to make friends. “It took about a week, and I’m friends with all of them.” Paige says the group becomes like a family. “Whenever you’re in College you’re with the same group, so you create greater bonds.”
To find out more about T Levels at Truro and Penwith College, visit T Levels – Truro & Penwith College
