Here are the dates and times during our welcome week when your teaching team will be expecting you on campus for welcome activity. Come to main reception and the welcome mentors will get you to the correct rooms:

• 22.09.23 12.30-3 HI103

Team

 

 

 

Mark Cronin – Prior to entering Higher Education Mark worked as a Children and Families Social Worker in both the statutory sector in a Local Authority Care Management Team in Birmingham and in the voluntary sector for the Sir John Middlemore Charitable Trust in a community-based Family Centre in South Birmingham.

 

He has also worked for several other voluntary organisations involved in supporting families and direct work with children and young people including Barnardo’s
and St Basils.

Mark is a Senior Lecturer on the ECEC team and currently works on both the Foundation Degree and BA (Hons) ECEC degree, usually on modules around Safeguarding, Constructs of Childhood and the Early Childhood Context.

 

 

Jane Beniston – Jane has worked in primary education for over 10 years, first as a reception class teacher, then moving on to Foundation Stage co-ordinator, opening a new60 place nursery and finally acting headteacher in a variety of different schools. Her roles within these schools included RE coordinator and maths leader within KS1 and KS2.

 

 

Jane has worked at Newman for 13 years teaching across undergraduate, foundation degree and master’s provision within the Faculty of Education.

Jane is a Senior Lecturer on the ECEC team and currently works on the Foundation degree, the BA (hons) ECEC degree as well as some Master’s modules. Jane usually teaches modules such as The Independent Learner, Child Development and Play Matters

 

Kate Dudley – Kate has worked in a range of settings across the early years sector working with children, young people, and their families. Exploring her early career within residential care for young people, and children within the care system, Kate began to hone her interests around children and families experiencing social exclusion.

 

 

Kate joined Newman in 2018 as a lecturer in Early Childhood Studies and is currently studying for her doctorate degree with a research focus on exploring gender expression in preschool children.

Kate works closely with students on the foundation degree programme as course co-ordinator, but lectures across a range of modules on both the Foundation Degree Early Years and the BA(Hons) degree in Early Childhood Education and Care such as Inclusion, Professional Practice, and Transition.

Brief Summary

 

You will cover 2 or 3 modules within your first semester depending as to whether you are studying Full or Part Time. We ensure that the teaching is interactive, informative, and we value your views!

We use a range of strategies such as discussions, case studies, videos, and seminars to engage you in your learning.

 

ECF411 The Independent Learner (Full and Part Time Students)
20 Credits (Compulsory)

This module will introduce students to theories of learning and will relate these to their own experience of education and the workplace. Generic key transferable skills, such as communication, information technology, problem-solving, working with others and improving one’s own learning, will be introduced, practised and applied to work-based tasks.

In addition, a range of activities associated with information skills will be offered. The nature and demand of work-based learning will be analysed and compared to academic study, with reference to the role played by directed and self-directed study in this type of course.

Students will audit their own skills, identify aspects that need improving and devise plans for self-development in those areas.

 

ECF412 Child Development: Theory and Practice (Full and Part Time Students)
20 Credits (Compulsory)

This module will develop students’ knowledge and understanding of child development and learning. The module will focus on language, cognition, physical and social and emotional aspects of development. It will provide students with theories of development and learning, and relate these to aspects of learning and teaching.

Theorists considered will include, among others; Piaget, Bruner, Skinner, Vygotsky, Bronfenbrenner and Chomsky. It will also explore theories which focus on the impact of biological and maturational processes on human development. The role of the EY practitioner will be discussed in relation to supporting child development and next steps for child in their setting.

We will also consider individual factors that impact child development and learning such as health, environment, personality and self-esteem.

ECF413 Constructs of Childhood (Full Time Students)
20 Credits (Compulsory)

Childhood is defined largely through the attitudes, beliefs and values of particular societies at particular times. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this module will promote an understanding of how childhood has changed or is different and continues to be socially constructed.

This leads to a number of contested discourses for example: Romantic, Puritan, and Utilitarian which continue to influence policy and practice in the Early Childhood context.

This module will also make reference to students own experiences of childhood and will explore how this, alongside other constructs, are influenced and represented through a variety of means such as media imagery, children’s literature and artefacts from a range of sources.

Students will be encouraged to consider the potential implications for their practice in Early Childhood in respect of dominant discourses around childhood.

 

 

Pre-Course Reading

 

Before you begin your course you may find it beneficial to carry out some of the activities below which will help you in your first modules.

You might also:

• Take time to think about what you know about how children learn and develop. Can you think of any famous people who have influenced what we know about how children grow and learn?
• Please look at the sections relating to learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) document on the DfE website.
• What does the EYFS say about learning and development?

The following texts are useful for supporting your knowledge and understanding of the first three modules.

Cottrell, S. (2019) The study skills handbook. (5th edition). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bedford, D. and Wilson, E. (2013) Study skills for foundation degrees. London: David Fulton Publishers Ltd. (ebook).
Doherty, J. and Hughes, M. (2014) Child development: theory and practice. Harlow: Pearson.
Smidt, S. (2017) Key Issues in Early Years Education, London: Sage.
Waller, T. (2014) An Introduction to Early Childhood, (2nd edition) London: Sage.
Wyness, M. (2012) Childhood and Society (2nd edition) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Planned Online Meetings

 

August 18th and WC August 21st ‘Meet the ECEC Team’ Videos from Mark Cronin, Jane Beniston and Kate Dudley to be sent at a later date.

WC August 28th Focus on getting ready for university and an introduction to ECF411 The Independent Learner- (video to be sent by Jane Beniston at a later date).

WC September 4th Videos on other modules being studied in Semester 1 – ECF412 The Developing Child and ECF416 Constructs of Childhood -(video to be sent by Mark Cronin at a later date).

Monday September 11th – Getting ready for university – Teams meeting at 4-5pm- Link to be sent at a later date.

Timetable: Semester 1

Early Years Foundation Degree Full Time

Semester 1

Tuesdays 16.00 – 18.00 and 18.30 – 20.30

Wednesdays 11.00 – 13.00

Full details of your individual academic timetable will be available on your university email calendar after you have completed online enrolment and set up your student login.

 

Early Years Foundation Degree Part Time

Semester 1

Tuesdays 16.00 – 18.00 and 18.30 -20.30

Full details of your individual academic timetable will be available on your university email calendar after you have completed online enrolment and set up your student login.