Foundation Degree Early Years
Part-time
Location • City Campus
Subject area • Education studies
Related subjects • Childhood studies • Teacher education
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Students experience work in Ghanaian orphanages and nurseries.
Teaching Development Agency congratulate our teaching teams.
View profiles of students on this course
The Government aims to improve outcomes for children, families and communities by improving the Children and Young People’s Workforce. We developed these courses in response to these aims.
National organisations including the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DfCSF), the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) and the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) are encouraging development of the workforce through to foundation degree level and on to honours degree level.
This foundation degree is ideal if you are a childminder, early years practitioner, manager and advisor working in the early years sector, focusing on services for children aged 0–5 years. This course is also beneficial if you are an outreach/involvement or portage worker. You need to be employed in an early years setting during the course as emphasis is placed on work-based learning.
The main aims of the degree are to
• reflect the DfCSF aim to develop a common set of skills and knowledge across the children and young people’s workforce
• support the interprofessional and multi-agency working that is integral to the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda
• support transitions of staff across services and professional groupings
This course has sector endorsement by CWDC meaning that you can be confident it fully meets workplace requirements.
Find out more about Foundation Degree Early Years
Related courses
Part-time – typically two and a half years, starting in January
You attend one afternoon a week from 2–6:30pm or on Saturday mornings
Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form
2012/13 academic year
Typically £6,920 for the course.
You can also study individual modules from this course.
For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/funding
• presentations • essays • reports • portfolios • posters • blogs • Blackboard conferencing • annotated bibliographies • creation of artefacts, for example a picture card communication system for children with autism
For further information please contact Paul Dewsnap (course administrator), phone +44 (0)114 225 5359, email paul.dewsnap@shu.ac.uk or Penny Borkett (course leader), email p.borkett@shu.ac.uk
The Faculty of Development and Society, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Sheffield S1 1WB.
This course focuses on work-based learning, so your development is directly related to your daily role
UK students experience work in Ghanaian orphanages and nurseries
Students at Sheffield Hallam University will be gaining a new insight into early childhood when they undertake a 25-day trip to Ghana, West Africa.
They will be supporting lecturers from the University at a three-day conference on Early Childhood Development and Education at the British Council in Accra. During this time they hope to build strong relationships with delegates from nurseries and orphanages where they will spend a further three weeks following the conference.
Pam Torry, a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam and one of the academics leading the trip said, “The students will gain invaluable experience of working in a different culture in a developing country whose provision for under fives is substantially different from our own.
"They will keep journals and video diaries about their adventures and participate in research which we hope will help them plan their own projects in the final year of their degrees.”
Kelly Brook, 20, from Rotherham, who is taking part in the visit, said: "It will be quite daunting but I'm very excited as well. The emphasis on the trip is learning through play so hopefully we'll be able to pass on some of our experiences and ideas and share some good practice as well."
Pam, together with Early Years colleagues Chris Hope and Penny Borkett, will deliver a conference on Early Childhood Education at the British Council in Accra from Tuesday 7 September to Thursday 9 September.
Pam has worked with officials from the Ministry of Women and Children (MOWAC) and the director of the National Nursery Teacher Training Centre to develop the conference.
She said: “Ghanaian national policy places a strong emphasis on the importance of learning through play in the early years and yet this is sometimes not clearly seen, so as well as sharing current theory on effective practice we will be offering workshops in change management.
"In the long term we hope to develop close partnerships and establish regular student placements in Ghana.”
The conference has attracted delegates from diverse backgrounds and several regions in the country. The Honourable Juliana Azumah Mensah, the minister for Women and Children, hopes to attend the launch where she will share her government’s vision for young children in Ghana.
Teaching teams congratulated for 'sound' achievement
Newly qualified teachers at Sheffield Hallam University are being put on a sound footing for their future careers according to new feedback figures released by the Teaching Development Agency (TDA).
Seventy one per cent of newly qualified teachers at Sheffield Hallam rated their training in reading, phonics and comprehension as ‘good' or ‘very good'- 20 per cent higher than the sector average.
Sheffield Hallam is one of just 13 teacher training providers in the UK to receive a top 'green' classification for its training.
Paul Dickinson, head of teacher education at Sheffield Hallam, said: "Congratulations must go to the Primary and Early Years team in Teacher Education leading on early reading.
"It is excellent news that teachers in their first year rate the training provision at Sheffield Hallam so highly. This aspect of our training has gained national recognition and we will be sharing best practice with other providers.''
Sheffield Hallam's success follows a recently announced third year of government funding for the Leading Partners in Literacy programme.
Kerry Williams
Final year
'I work at Sheffield Hallam's nursery as a team leader. Having not studied since gaining NVQ level three in Childcare Education about 15 years ago, I was keen to learn about the latest developments.
'I was diagnosed with having dyslexia as I started the course. The dyslexia support workers at the University are fantastic, they talk through any problems and give me strategies of how to cope. They also helped me to get funding to buy equipment including a laptop and dictaphone.
'I didn't go to school and get any qualifications so absolutely everything here has been new to me. So I would say to others not to let something like thinking you're not clever enough put you off, because there is the help here you need.'
Profiles
Kerry Williams
Final year
