A new Early Childhood Studies degree is being launched this September through an innovative partnership between South Birmingham College and Wolverhampton University, to provide students with the academic qualification and practical experience they need to attain Early Years Professional Status.
It will break the mould of traditional university courses. In the first year, it will be taught from South Birmingham College, giving students a gentle introduction to university life. Although a full-time course, it will be concentrated over two days a week so students can both study and work, or fulfil family commitments.
The new BA honours degree course will be part of a pilot being run by the Children's Workforce Development Council looking at creating new routes to achieving EYPS.
'This is all about life-long learning and encouraging students to progress into higher education,' says Geraldine McManus, the college's assistant director of higher education in childcare. 'The first year they will be university students to all intents and purposes,' she says. 'They will be able to tap into the resources at the university campus such as IT support, the library and students' union but they are studying here. They can still live at home, but get a taste of university life.'
The three-year course, which has been developed by the college's Childcare Division, which holds Centre of Vocational Excellence status, has been specifically devised to get people back into education and to support students as they progress from further to higher education.
'I think in the past students have been nervous about going on to university,' says Ms McManus. 'This link-up with Wolverhampton allows them to stay here and get a flavour of university life.'
Employer demand
The new course reflects growing interest among students in attaining EYPS and the demands of employers for higher qualified staff.
'We have an influx of employers coming to ask us about our foundation degrees and other courses because they realise their staff need to upgrade their qualifications because of the Government requirements for every full daycare setting to have an EYP in post by 2015,' she says.
'When as a student you complete your level 3 qualification and want to go on to higher things, you often don't know where to go or what routes to follow. This will fill that gap.
'At this stage, students who are finishing off their Diplomas in Childcare and Education are at Level 3. We don't expect them to be at level 4 at the start of the BA course, but in the first year we will be able to get them up to that level.'
In the first year the college tutors will work with the students on areas such as confidence building, study skills, academic writing, working independently and managing their own learning. They will also cover Early Childhood Studies core modules such as child development, child protection, legislation and inclusive education.
Years two and three will be taught from Wolverhampton University's Walsall campus and will include placements so the students gain the practical experience as well as the academic qualifications they need to attain EYPS.
'We are piloting two new routes to EYPS, starting in September,' says Pauline Jones, national development manager for early years at the CWDC. 'One is a three-year work-based route for experienced practitioners who would have a foundation degree and would be topping it up to an honours degree. The pilot will be running through the final year of this programme.
'The other route is via an Early Childhood Studies degree, which will seek to give candidates the practical experience they need alongside the academic work of the degree course to bring them up to EYP status. The pilots are small in scale and will be subject to ongoing evaluation, so adjustments can be made during the course of the studies.'
The development of the course and its inclusion in the EYPS pilot has been welcomed by the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network
Pamela Calder, who chairs the network, says, 'At the moment, if people take an Early Childhood Studies degree they do not get the practical experience, so it is difficult for them to attain EYPS. They may end up having to follow the full EYP route, as does someone who has taken a degree totally unrelated to early years.'
She says there is disparity in the way early childhood studies graduates are treated in that if they go on to take a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, within a year they can be teaching in school and on a teacher's pay, but if they opt for a career in early years they will be employed at a lower status and pay as they work towards EYPS. 'Universities offering Early Childhood Studies courses do not get funding for arranging and supervising practical placements, unlike equivalent courses like social work or teaching.'
Ms Calder adds, 'We are in favour of something like the South Birmingham College experiment because it will show up what some of the issues are, and it will show how good our students are.'
CASE STUDY
'I want to go on to the Early Childhood Studies degree course because it can open so many doors,' says Sumera Begum, 18, who is currently completing her CACHE Diploma in Childcare and Education at South Birmingham College.
'I am not totally sure what I want do when I finish, but if you do the degree you don't have to be stuck in the same job. You could go into nursery management, and that is what I am quite interested in. You could do a PGCE and go into teaching or maybe work with parents and do family support work.
'I am doing the degree course this way because I'm used to the college and the college teachers. I already knew some of them before I came here as they used to run classes at my school, so I had seen them there and I came to an open day. It is a friendly environment I am familiar with, rather than going straight to university.
'It also has the advantage that it is near to home. The course is counted as full-time but is actually over two full days a week, so I am looking for work in a nursery or maybe in a school as a teaching assistant on the other days.'
