Early Years Care and Education FdA

You’ll explore the impact of legislation on early years education in both indoor and outdoor settings and learn about stages of curriculum planning and activity.

You’ll take a structured visit to a new educational setting to see how this works in practice, focusing on how activities defined in the curriculum meet children’s individual requirements accounting for factors like culture, communication and additional needs.

You'll review frameworks like the SEND Code of Practice, regarding professional partnerships and attitudes to equality, diversity and inclusion.

You’ll also learn about interventions to support the needs of children in the context of broader inclusive and diverse practice, and the nature of professional group dynamics, possible barriers to working together and the impact on working relationships.

You’ll investigate perspectives of child development, play principles and associated practice in relation to the professional skills of observation, assessment and planning for children.

You’ll identify and discuss the broader political, economic and ethical contexts in which Early Years professional practices are positioned, and reflect on your own ongoing development of professional skills.

You’ll think about how to respond to issues as an individual and within a team, operating within the legal framework. You’ll be able to respond to safeguarding concerns with greater confidence, professional knowledge, skills and practice.

You'll think about how to demonstrate your commitment to family partnerships, and the benefits of parent and carer participation for child learning and development.

You'll also review legislation and best practice related to rights, responsibilities and diversity, and learn how to recognise and challenge discrimination.

By examining key theories systematically, you'll discover how thought processes have evolved in areas like memory, perception and problem-solving.

Analysing nature-nurture impacts, you'll see how cognition shapes learning.

Applying these developmental insights, you'll start to see how you can tailor support for each child's needs and abilities.

You’ll analyse ICT integration across different curriculums, identifying developmentally appropriate uses that engage young minds.

Exploring different forms of technology, you'll learn about creative activities aligned to learning goals across all areas from literacy to maths, and develop inclusive digital experiences that spark children's skills and confidence.

Reflect on your work, discuss proposals and carry out independent study on an area of early years education you’re passionate about.

We’ll support you in forming your research proposal, ensuring ethical considerations are taken into account, so you can construct a detailed literature review on your area of interest.

Deepen your expertise by questioning assumptions, investigating what matters to you, and considering impacts. You'll communicate findings to peers, reflect on the research process, and see how evidence-based change in your work drives professional development.

You’ll weigh up strategies used to promote children's psychological and physical resilience in practice, and consider the importance of proactively creating psychologically safe places where children can feel comfortable to talk and share their experiences.

You’ll also think about how children develop emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, resilience building and growth mindsets.

You'll examine internal and external processes for gathering, analysing and applying data - including protocols governing appropriate data sharing.

Gaining insight on common judgment errors like unconscious bias, you'll consider how to minimise subjectivity and maximise fairness.