Childhood Studies

• Study in the comfort of your own home, with the flexibility to fit study around your work and life commitments.
• Expand your knowledge of working with children by combining the subjects of education, psychology and sociology to give you a multifaceted and fascinating view of the child, childhood and families.
• Join an engaging course which values communication and support. We use chat forums, e-mail, skype, telephone and Moodle messages to keep in contact with students and our tutors are hands-on, and readily accessible.
• We offer tutorials and study days for students to get together and work with tutors face to face (optional).
• We have an experienced, friendly and supportive team who fully understand the challenges of balancing study with family and work commitments.
• We welcome students from outside the UK, with course materials and assignments written to enable students to bring their own context and experiences to the course.

Developed for childcare, education and play professionals working either directly with children or in an advisory position, this course will support you to gain specialist knowledge and to challenge current practice. The foundation degree integrates academic and work-based learning, supporting practitioners to understand and work with the link between theory and practice.

• Academic and Professional Skills for Practitioners - a module which helps you to gain the skills to become an effective student i.e. writing your first essay.
• Understanding the Child and Childhood – a foundation module which helps you to consider your current understanding of the child and childhood and to expand your thinking and challenge your practice based on different and contemporary ways of thinking.
• Safeguarding Children – a module which helps students to understand the foundations of our current safeguarding system including recent changes to policy and procedure.

Optional (Choose 1)

• Understanding Curricula – with an early years or primary education pathway. – a module which explores the concept of a ‘curriculum’ and challenges the way we think about children’s learning.
• Understanding the Playing Child – a module which examines and challenges the role of play in children’s lives.

• Working with Children and Families in Society - building on the foundation of Understanding the child and childhood, this module continues by examining contemporary thinking and practice around working with families.
• Exploring Research Skills – a module which supports students to develop and understanding of research skills.
• Research in Practice – a module which supports students to put research skills in to practice.

An additional two modules which are specific to your chosen degree.

FdA Childhood Studies: Families and Young Children

• Relationships in Practice
• Health and Well-being

FdA Childhood Studies: Education

• Dispositions for Learning (0-5 years) or Supporting Speech, Language and Number (6-11 years)
• Core Curriculum (0-5 or 6-11years)

FdA Childhood Studies: Special Educational Needs (SEN)

• Supporting Speech, Language and Number
• Supporting Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal academic framework review, so may be subject to change.