This course is no longer accepting applications. The next entry will be 2023.
Working as an early years teacher is a rewarding and challenging career and you can make a real difference to young children’s development and life chances. This full time 12 month training programme is designed for graduates who wish to specialise in early childhood development and lead education and care for children from birth to five years.
This is intensive five day a week course will allow you to develop your teaching and learning practice with babies, toddlers and young children. During your studies, you will spend a minimum of 120 days on placement in at least two early years settings. You will also be able to have a short placement with children aged 5-7 years to support your understanding of children's learning as they progress through primary school. University based training sessions take place one day a week to allow for reflective and collaborative learning.
As an Early Years ITT Graduate Entry trainee you will work towards Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) by demonstrating the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years). To enhance your progress towards achieving EYTS, you are also eligible to enrol on the Professional Practice in Early Years Foundation Stage Teaching which enables you to gain 60 credits at Masters Level.
As a student of this course you'll receive a free electronic textbook for every module.
Our degree is accredited by the Teaching Regulation Agency, Department for Education.
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There are three components to this course which are both assessed by coursework and cross referenced against the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years).
This module tracks the development of your professional skills and understanding necessary for effective early years teaching and leadership of practice.
For this module, you will design a practice based enquiry in your placement setting so that you can take the lead on improving an aspect of early years practice.
This module aims to deepen your knowledge and understanding of current practice issues and emerging policies and practices relating to the early years sector.
You can find more information about this course in the programme specification. Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
This course will be taught through lectures and seminars on early years theory, policy, education and care practices which will closely reference the Teachers’ Standards (Early Years) and the professional knowledge and skills required by early years teachers. Opportunities are provided through small group supervision sessions, to share ideas and reflect on your academic learning and practice with an experienced early years tutor.
Assessments have been designed to enable you to reflect on your emerging knowledge and understanding of young children’s learning and development alongside the experiences of professional teaching practice that you gain from your placements. Teacher led sessions are delivered once a week with opportunities for smaller group and individual supervision based on your training needs. In addition, trainees are encouraged to learn independently through guided and blended learning through an e-portfolio and a work based project. Progress meetings within your workplace with your employer and tutor will take place at regular intervals throughout the training programme.
Early Years ITT is the only teacher training focused on the birth to five year age range. This makes Early Years Teachers ideally placed to provide high quality education and care for babies and young children in all private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years settings which is where the majority of children and early years provision is based. You can also work in free schools, academies and independent schools where teaching staff can be employed without the requirement for them to have QTS.
For those who wish to work with primary school age children the most common route to becoming a school teacher is to undertake initial teacher training leading to QTS.
Early Years Teachers with EYTS can work in maintained settings. However, only those who meet the legal definition of a school teacher with QTS can lead teaching in a maintained nursery school or a nursery class in a maintained school for children aged 3 and over.
There is no pay scale for early years teachers. The pay and conditions of individuals with EYTS are determined by employers. All early years settings are free to set the level of pay for individuals they employ with early years teacher status including maintained schools.
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.
Start: Flexible
Duration: 3 months part-time
Start: September 2023
Duration: 1 year part-time
Code: 034X32W
