Course summary

This course is designed for people currently working in Early Years and Key Stage 1 who work in an appropriate setting with children aged between 0 – 8 years (either paid or voluntary) for at least 16 hours per week. This new and exciting course has been created by highly experienced lecturers in response to early years educators and primary school teachers who recognise the need to bring a more playful and fresher developmentally appropriate approaches to the teaching and learning of young children. You could be working in the private or voluntary sector, or in a school. The course is suitable for a range of roles within day care, play groups, before and after school clubs, primary schools, children’s centres, family support services, special education needs education, as a nanny or childminder or in early years advisory services. This is a two-year higher education degree course that is run in collaboration with the Open University (subject to validation). The course enables you to combine academic study with work-based learning and develops sound theoretical and practice-based knowledge. It combines rigorous academic standards with the opportunity to experiment and develop ideas and practices that will excite children and stimulate their natural curiosity and motivation to engage through playful learning. The course covers a wide range of theoretical perspectives and current issues in early years education and explores international perspectives and contemporary developments and challenges within the sector. Modules: Year 1

• Reflective Learners in Early Years

• Child Development and Playful Learning

• Playful Pedagogy

• Parents and Carers as Partners

• Curriculum Frameworks: Global Perspectives

• Children’s Welfare Legal and Professional Responsibilities

• Digital Pedagogy and Communication Skills

• Leading Change: Influencing Practice Through Research.