Amanda Vardy started her higher education at Stockport College. Now, she’s earned a doctorate and leads the very programme she once studied.
Amanda, Programme Leader for HE Early Years, has officially achieved her Doctorate in Education.
What makes her story truly special is that the place she now teaches, the Stockport College University Centre, is where she first began her own higher education journey over a decade ago.
Back in 2013, Amanda was working as a registered childminder. She was content in her role, but when a leaflet advertising HE courses at the University Centre Stockport College arrived in her letterbox, she found a course that was delivered at a time that suited her schedule, alongside her responsibilities as a mum. It felt as if fate had dealt her a hand. Consequently, she decided to give it a try, and that choice would change her life’s path.
Amanda began with a Foundation Degree in Early Years before furthering her studies with a one-year Childhood Studies course. She then obtained a teaching qualification, during which she completed her placement at the University Centre. That same year, she was offered a position as an HE Early Years Lecturer. Subsequently, she earned a Master’s in Educational Practice at the University of Chester, before embarking on her latest educational venture at Liverpool John Moores.
Amanda has recently completed her Doctorate in Education, with her thesis focusing on disadvantage and the home learning environment. She achieved this while working and navigating the challenges of family life, including supporting her younger child, who has autism.
“I worked all the way through my studies,” Amanda shares. “There was a lot of late-night juggling between work, coursework and family life. My nights out were at the computer!”
Amanda joined Stockport College in 2016 as a Lecturer in Children’s Studies and became Programme Leader for HE Early Years in 2021. Now, as part of a close-knit team of six, she supports the next generation of Early Years professionals, many of whom, like her, are juggling study with work and parenting.
“I could have stopped before doing a Doctorate, but I encouraged myself to keep going, and keep learning. My studies have shaped who I am and made me more empathetic to our students’ experiences.”
Amanda graduates in July and remains a living example of the transformational power of local, accessible education. Her story is a testament to perseverance and proof that sometimes, a single decision can lead you right back to where you were meant to be.
