Childhood Studies with Early Years with Foundation Year

This course includes an additional foundation year at the start of the course which helps prepare you for full time undergraduate study. It is a 4 year course and available to you if you didn't quite meet the entry requirements or want longer to prepare for full time study. At the end of the foundation year you will begin to study the 3 year degree plan, and you will qualify with the same degree award at the end of the course.

This course has a shared first year across multiple specialisms, after your first year if you want to study a different specialism you can choose to change to Childhood Studies with Primary Education.

Why study at BNU?
Studying with us, you'll develop the deep insight and knowledge you need to become a valued and trusted support for the children and families you work with in your future career. You’ll have the opportunity to meet and work with front-line professionals who can help you feel confident and resilient for whatever path you choose beyond graduation.

Our lecturers are experts and have rich experiences to share that will make your learning come to life. They're all former practitioners themselves meaning they can tell you all about the realities of working with children in different settings. It also means that what you learn in the classroom will always be linked to real-life practice.

In addition to our strong professional backgrounds, we also pride ourselves on our friendly and approachable teaching staff, who make you feel included and valued as a student. And we feel it’s important to not only teach you the theory but give you examples of how the theory meets the practice.

What will I study?
This course is ideal if you are considering a career in an early years related field. We’ll focus on things like teamwork, presentation skills, role play, and communication both with colleagues and, crucially, with the children and families you support. These skills are so important in the early years sector, as well as this, we will study pedagogy, play development, wellbeing and child development in early years.

Career prospects
Once you’ve graduated with your degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education Studies, you’ll be well qualified to think about several different careers.

You could consider completing teacher training via School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT), Early Years Initial Teacher Training, or even a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). You can also choose to study one of our postgraduate course like PGCert Practice Education here at BNU.

If teaching isn’t your thing, how about progressing into a position in social work, special needs, play therapy, charities and international development work. You could even consider training and assessment in the public or private sector – your options really are endless!

Foundation Year
Core
Preparing for Success: Knowledge and Creativity
Preparing for Success: Self Development and Responsibility
Inquiry Based Learning
Ways of Learning about the Social World

Year one
Core
Introduction to childhood studies
The developing professional
Fundamentals of placement practice
Safeguarding Children
Theories of child development
Capturing professional development 1

Year two
Core
Born to learn; play and creativity
Inclusion
Introduction to research methods
21st Century families
Capturing professional development 2

Year three
Core
The early years landscape, policy and practice
Research project
Capturing professional development 3

Optional Modules
Exploring children’s literature
Supporting children’s emotional wellbeing
Education and Sustainability
Learning and teaching with technology

We assess your work in several different ways to reflect the different learning styles our students have, some of which are listed below:

essays and reports
poster presentation or children’s books with explanatory rationale
PowerPoint presentations with explanatory rationale or reflective commentary
collage (a series of images used to illustrate the benefits of play)
images (a series of sequential images to illustrate an aspect of childhood)
reflective commentaries
observations of practice
projects and exhibitions
micro-teaching sessions
training materials
professional discussion
portfolio of evidence