Undergraduate

The early years: developing practice

On this page

• What you will study
• Entry
• If you have a disability or additional requirement
• Study materials
• Teaching and assessment
• Professional recognition
• Students also studied
• Future availability

This Level 1 course is appropriate for practitioners currently working with young children aged between birth and seven years in public, private, voluntary and independent settings. You’ll cover a range of themes including how children develop and learn; their personal, social and emotional development; communication and language; literacy, mathematics; and their understanding of the world. You'll learn about the early years curriculum and develop your ability to work effectively with young children, parents, colleagues and other professionals.

Course facts

Register for the course

This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.

What you will study

This course is for people working in early years settings with children from birth to seven years. If you are a childminder, pre-school leader/practitioner, childcare worker, unqualified nursery teacher, classroom/teaching assistant, nursery nurse or outreach play worker or working voluntarily in a school, Children's Centre, day nursery or out-of-school context with young children, it will help you develop your professional knowledge, skills and practice.

You will focus on the responsibilities, knowledge and skills underpinning your work with young children and with other adults, including parents and carers and a range of professional colleagues in multi-agency contexts. You will develop your understanding of the role of the early years practitioner, the nature of young children’s learning and development and the importance of early years environments.

Your understanding of the requirements of local and national frameworks (both statutory and non-statutory), that guide the education and care provision of early years settings and the work of children’s services in safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare will be extended and you will develop your awareness of the structure and nature of the wide range of provision for children from birth to seven years.

You will explore these areas through studying printed study materials, audio and video recordings (on DVD and online), and two course readers, and by carrying out activities linked to your work with young children.

After successfully completing this course you will have developed a clear awareness of your own role in working effectively in the care and education of young children. You will be aware of the conditions and contexts which support young children’s learning and development and will be confident of your ability to provide and/or support the provision of an appropriate and effective care and learning environment for children.

Vocational relevance

This course is for practitioners working with young children and their families in a wide range of early years settings across the UK, and its content is directly relevant to practice. The course is the first module of the Foundation Degree in Early Years or the Diploma of Higher Education in Childhood Practice and will meet the needs of adults seeking to become highly qualified and experienced early years practitioners, including those who aspire to achieve the graduate Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) in England.

If you are an experienced practitioner there is an accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) route The early years: developing practice (APEL route) (EZL100) that enables you to demonstrate core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning to help you to progress to courses at Level 2 (SCQF Levels 8 and 9).

Entry

This is a key introductory Level 1 course. Level 1 courses provide core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning to help you to progress to courses at Level 2.

This course is available in the UK and to students working in English-medium, early years settings which teach a UK or Republic of Ireland curriculum (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage) in Europe and British Forces schools. You must have been working with young children aged from birth to seven years in an early years setting prior to starting the course for six months if full time or 12 months if part time for at least five hours per week. You may have been working in a paid or a voluntary capacity. During the course, you will need to be working in the setting for a minimum of five hours a week in order to carry out the practical activities.

As this leads to a professional qualification recognised by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC), you must be over the age of eighteen years at course start date.

To work in an early years setting you will need to meet the ‘fit person’ criteria for doing so, including obtaining the necessary criminal record clearance required for the setting and country in which you are working. It is the responsibility of you and your employer to ensure you meet these requirements, and not the OU. You should contact the relevant agency in your country for more information if you are in doubt about your eligibility, or to find out more. For who to contact in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, see the Childhood and Youth website under the heading Criminal Record Clearance.

If you are new or a less confident learner, start with Understanding children and young people (Y176). This is an Openings course, also at Level 1 but worth 15 credits. Designed with lots of support and no examination, it will give you a gentle introduction to this subject and to OU study. If you successfully complete this Openings course, you’ll be ready to study E100 providing you meet the entry requirements above.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Outside the UK

This course is available in the UK and to students working in English-medium early years settings which teach a UK or Republic of Ireland curriculum (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage) in Europe and British Forces schools.

Preparatory work

To undertake the course you must be working in either a paid or a voluntary capacity with young children. You and your employer will need to complete a permission agreement form confirming this before you begin the course. You must also ensure you meet the ‘fit person’ criteria as noted in the Entry section, above. There is no essential preparatory work before the course starts, but it is suggested that you locate and become familiar with the policy and curriculum documents for the early years setting in which you work. Reading practitioner journals such as Nursery World will allow you to acquaint yourself with current issues in the early years sector.

If you have a disability or additional requirement

Please note that this course makes substantial use of audio and visual materials. Written transcripts are available for the audio-visual material. The course materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical, scientific, or foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Other alternative formats may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

You will need to spend considerable amounts of time using a personal computer and the internet. If you have concerns about taking this course please contact your regional or national centre for advice. The Open University also provides a range of sources to support students in developing their study skills and you will be able to access these from the Student website.

If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.

You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.

Study materials

What's included

Three volumes of print materials, two course readers, other printed materials, DVD and website.

You will need

A DVD player.

Computing requirements

This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.

You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you cannot use an Apple Mac or Linux computer unless it is running Windows using Boot Camp or similar dual-boot system.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. If you are new to the OU, you will find that your tutor will be particularly concerned to help you with your study methods. We also offer tutorial support online through online forums and sometimes via group tutorials that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course. 

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.

You can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit on paper for others. This is entirely your choice.

The end-of-module assessment (EMA) is a project.

Professional recognition

Students completing E100 will be eligible for the OU’s Certificate in Early Years Practice, a vocationally-oriented qualification which will enhance your existing role and give your career a boost. It takes account of the training needs of a wide range of practitioners working in a variety of early years settings. 

The Certificate in Early Years Practice is included in The Children’s Workforce Development Council’s Qualifications List for those delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage. This List has information about qualifications that OFSTED accept for regulatory purposes and guidance about suitable job roles for those who have achieved different qualifications. The OU’s Certificate in Early Years Practice is listed as an acceptable course at level 4.

The Certificate has qualified status for classroom assistants in Northern Ireland. In Scotland the Certificate is recognised at Support Worker Level for staff in day care of children's services setting.

E100 is a compulsory Level 1 module in the OU Foundation Degree in Early Years, which has been recognised by the Children's Workforce Development Council as meeting the requirements for an Early Years Sector-Endorsed Foundation Degree.

There is more useful supporting information about the early years courses on the Childhood and Youth website. 

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• Professional practice in the early years (E105)
• Child development (ED209)
• Extending professional practice in the early years (E210)
• Equality, participation and inclusion: learning from each other (E214)
• Working with children, young people and families (K218)

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in October 2012. We expect it to be available once a year.

Fees 2012

See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.

Study explained

Financial support

- find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.

Study explained

- all you need to know about distance learning with the OU.

A taste of OU study

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