newbee to tax credits

ady347_2

hi, after some help please. i live with my partner who works 35-40 hours a week, earns about £800 per month. i have been made redundant and are looking to claim for our first time.we have a child living with us who is 8(not mine), and i have a child with a ex partner who is 10, (doesnt live with me) i am about to go on jobseekers, finding a job is difficult as i worked in a school so i could pick up and drop off child from school, and have the same holidays. we have applied for tax credits, but not sure what other help we can get, we have been told we are not entitled for council tax help.

my questions are:-

if i go on jobseekers will this affect our tax credits?

is their anything else we can get help for?

what happens if i get a part time job doing less that 16 hours a week? would this affect our tax credits?

as we have never claimed for anything before, and i have never been on the dole since leaving school it is all very confusing to us of the help we can get short term in these hard times.

many thanks.