| Programme details | |
|---|---|
| Degree: | Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (BA (Hons)) |
| Discipline: |
Education & Teaching
|
| Duration: | 48 months |
| Study modes: | full-time |
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This degree offers you the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence before you advance to stage one of your honours degree.
By taking a foundation year, you will gain a firm grounding in the skills and knowledge you need to complete our full BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies. It provides an excellent introduction to a fascinating subject and gives you the opportunity to complete the honours degree in four years – even if you don’t possess the formal qualifications you would normally need.
There can be few more worthwhile careers than working with young children, helping them to reach important milestones and to develop skills that will last a lifetime.
On our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies with Foundation Year you’ll consider the importance of early childhood from a broad range of perspectives and gain a solid understanding of how children develop, learn and think from birth to eight years.
You’ll build your skills in identifying and meeting children’s holistic needs and explore all the challenges and opportunities faced by early years professionals working in a variety of children’s services.
The role of professional and personal development is an important theme for this course. By spending a substantial amount of time on placement from stage one onwards, you'll be able to draw on your own practical experiences with young children.
We also give you the opportunity to achieve extra qualifications as part of your studies, such as the British Red Cross Paediatric First Aid certificate which is valued by employers.
You’ll undertake a placement for one or two days each week, building your skills in working with children and boosting your employability.
Thanks to our close partnerships with nurseries, children’s centres and other early years employers across the region, you will have the chance to experience working in different settings. As well as developing your observational and reflective skills, this will help you make more informed career choices for the future.
There is also the opportunity to go on fieldtrips to places such as the Museum of Childhood, Think Tank Museum and Eureka Children’s Museum.
We offer you the chance to apply for an international placement so that you can gain valuable new perspectives on the profession. Successful applicants spend four weeks in Milan - working in a pre-school and living with a local family.
Other European fieldtrips have seen our students visit the famous Peto Institute in Budapest to gain insights into its groundbreaking work with children who have complex disabilities. Such international experiences look great on your CV, while enhancing your confidence and independence.
To broaden your international outlook further still, there may be the opportunity to study abroad in the second semester of stage two. We have agreements with universities in Amsterdam and Brussels under the Go Places, Go Further international exchange scheme.
Our academic team is highly experienced and includes renowned researchers and published authors. This means your course is underpinned by the latest thinking and innovative ideas which are changing the face of early childhood studies.
We undertake important studies into subjects ranging from creativity for early years professionals to social constructions of childhood, from the pressures faced by new parents to ways of engaging fathers in early years settings.
There may even be the chance for you to contribute to fascinating research initiatives yourself. Our students have, for instance, worked with school children and community groups to draw up ideas for improving the play and educational potential of various parks in Nottinghamshire.
We also run annual conferences where you can share findings from your own projects with an audience of fellow students and practitioners.
You will receive plenty of encouragement and guidance from tutors who are approachable, dedicated and passionate about their subjects.
You’ll learn in our Kirtley Building which offers first-rate facilities for our Education and Childhood Studies students. It includes specially designed collaborative learning spaces and a large hall for practical activities and observing learning in action.
The variety of optional modules on offer means that you can tailor your studies to match your personal interests and career aspirations. These modules could cover themes as diverse as children’s literature, family dynamics, health and inequality, child protection and children across the world.