Kingston University

BA in Early Years: Teaching and Learning

Combine workplace experiences with Kingston University campus learning

At Kingston University, we have a long history of delivering work-based learning courses valued by employers. This course can springboard you into employment or progression within a current or new setting whilst developing your skills.

We will combine your experiences in your workplace or placement with one day a week on campus at Kingston University.

You will be assessed through a variety of assignments and portfolio building. There are no written exams.

The Kingston Hill campus features an outdoor learning environment where trainee teachers lead curriculum-linked natural sciences activities with children. It includes a specially built 'cubby house', outdoor pond, beehive and nature trail. It offers early years students the opportunity to simulate teaching and learning with natural materials.

There are a number of teaching rooms set up to replicate actual classrooms. Each classroom is subject based – such as an art room, science lab – and is equipped with all the relevant facilities you will need to practise your lessons before taking them into school.

Our library (the Nightingale Centre) has an excellent range of teaching resources to help you plan and teach your lessons, such as a range of children's topic books, music and nursery rhymes on CD, as well as artefacts and kits that can be used to illustrate historical periods, different religions, science, mathematics and music.

Why choose this course?

This degree provides real-world experience in Early Years education through taught content and workplace learning/placements. You will develop critical, analytical and transferable skills that employers value.

Taught sessions are on campus one day a week, with a minimum of 16 hours in paid or voluntary work per week in an appropriate Early Years setting. Applicants not working in the sector, will be provided with a suitable placement.

Our course has been developed for both practitioners and those new to the Early Years sector. There is an emphasis on developing professional practice, play, pedagogical approaches, leadership, sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion. There are opportunities for you to develop your own unique interests and philosophy within the programme through cross disciplinary discussions.

Your module learning, teaching and portfolio work align with the working practices outlined in the Early Childhood Studies Subject benchmark.

The optional Graduate Practitioner Competencies (GPC) Pathway allows you to showcase the nine competencies defined by the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network (ECSDN) in a practical setting. This route empowers you to demonstrate leadership by using your knowledge and skills to apply innovative and critical thinking to a range of professional situations. It helps you to position yourself as a leader, to advocate and promote the best interests of children and their families.

During the course you will need to be assessed in your workplace and will be supported to access alternative placements/work settings/community settings outside your usual place of work, to provide evidence practice across the 0–8 age range.