This course is designed for those who wish to combine study with other commitments, and provides an opportunity to develop a range of vocational, academic and personal skills which will be of value in your practice in the workplace. For those who wish to take their study further, the degree will also offer a preparation towards an Honours Degree and is a recognised key pathway towards Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT).The course includes essential personal and professional skills, building on participants’ capacities for future careers and further study.

The Foundation Degree (Arts) in Integrated Working with Children and Families in the Early Years is completed over two years in flexible one-week study blocks. It is both a rigorous academic and a coherent vocational qualification, drawing heavily on work-based learning.

The course is open to all those engaged in working directly with children and families or involved in early childhood services, with appropriate qualifications and experience.

The programme has been structured to meet the needs of students who are working full time. Offered part time over two years, teaching is delivered across six study blocks amounting to 30 days in total.

We believe this mode of study enables students to focus fully on their learning during the study blocks, enhancing the overall teaching experience. It reduces regular travel and offers students more flexibility managing their learning than is usually available

This Foundation Degree is based on a practitioner researcher approach, which means you will carry out considerable elements of study in your own workplace. Each module starts with a study block, following which students complete their research and assignments back in their own settings.

Course Attendance Dates

15-19 October 2018

21-25 January 2019

25-29 March 2019

16-20 September 2019

20-24 January 2020

23-27 March 2020

Learning Outcomes

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes in the following areas:

• Self as Learner
• Children as Learner
• Pedagogy
• Parents’ Involvement in their Children’s Learning
• Working with Parents as Partners
• You in Relation to your Team – Leading Learning
• Leaderful Learning – Exploring Leadership
• Supporting Families
• Critical Incidents: Legal and Professional Responsibilities
• Practitioner Action Research

Programme Aims

The educational aims of the Foundation Degree (Arts) in Integrated Working with Children and Families in the Early Years are for students to be able to:

• Have an awareness of their own strengths and development needs through reflecting on themselves as learners and pedagogues
• Recognise children as independent learners and be able to identify underlying principles and theoretical concepts in early childhood education
• Work effectively with families and practitioners, sharing information and ideas and modifying their own responses to situations in the light of reflection
• Undertake practice based research, collect and synthesise information using appropriate techniques to raise questions and inform practice development
• Use interpersonal and communication skills to support effective team working and to respond with professional responsibility to a range of situations