Diary of an Early Childhood Studies Student: close of the second act

The final term of second year is done! The thought that there is only one more year of Early Childhood Studies is very scary. Before I know it, I’ll be graduating! This semester has been a tough one with some difficult modules, but it has been enjoyable with a lot of new learning. My elective module, the one I chose, was ‘Inspiring and Engaging Children in the School Curriculum’ and has been my favourite module this semester. It mainly focuses on teaching and learning relating to the school curriculum.

This module has also provided me with the opportunity to apply to do a PGCE in Early Years and Primary Education (3-7) with Qualified Teacher Status. This year, Sheffield Hallam University have decided to hold interviews for PGCEs earlier, before we apply through UCAS. The plan is to have interviews in June this year and if I am successful, I can apply through UCAS in October for the course starting in 2020, knowing I have been accepted already. The offer would be conditional on my grades and passing the professional skills tests in numeracy and literacy, but this is an amazing position to be in as I will not need to worry about the procedure of getting onto the PGCE course in my final year.

The other two modules for this term involved research as part of my assignment: ‘Children as Thinkers and Communicators’, and ‘Undertaking Research’. ‘Children as Thinkers and Communicators’ focused on planning and implementing my research in my school placement, whilst ‘Undertaking Research’ was done with peers in uni and was designed so everyone could undertake the same research and analyse it. The content being taught in each module was quite similar and meant it was hard to distinguish between each one at times. When it came to writing up my assignments, I had to make very sure to check that I was writing about the right research.

Since my last blog, which focused my first semester, I received my grades in three modules. In ‘Pedagogy of Play’ I got 64%, in ‘Forest Schools’, 66% and in ‘The Politics of Children’s Services’ I achieved 69%. I was slightly disappointed as I hoped for a first in at least one of the modules. However, after discussing with others, I felt like the assignments were harshly marked to some extent with others not doing quite so well. So, I should be grateful as I achieved good, solid marks and I know I am my own worst critic when it comes to my assignments.

The grade I was most shocked by was the politics module, which I did best in! I really struggled with the teaching, and writing the assignment. This led me to put most of my effort into this assignment by reading up on things I had already been taught which I did not understand in lectures and seminars. Some aspects were hard to get my head around, but once I did, it wasn’t as bad as it initially seemed. This was the grade I was most proud of. I mentioned in my last blog about the problems with teaching on this module and I still feel like we were the guinea pigs. Course leaders were made aware of this, but nothing really changed as they knew that most people on the course were uninterested from the get-go. This is something I did see, but I still feel this wasn’t the only reason for the complaints.

Placement time

As with last semester, I was on placement for a good chunk of the term. I was back at the same school again and I loved it. The staff are lovely. I always say, you get lovely children in every school, but it’s the staff who make it! I think they could see that, and they asked me to return in my final year. I was happy to accept this offer as I felt that it was important to go back to a school where I can develop my practice - rather than risk going to a placement like in my first year were I could tell staff did not want placement students around.

Some tutors have mentioned that returning to the same school can show a student as inflexible. My response is that placement for uni is so important so I want a school I can rely on, where I can successfully undertake research for my dissertation and receive a final year report that is from staff that appreciate me. Don’t get me wrong, it is important to experience a range of schools and settings, so I volunteer in my own time in different schools to show that I can be flexible. This is something I feel is so crucial: if you have a great placement, don’t be scared to go back as it will only benefit you.

Placement in final year links to your research for your dissertation  and recently, the tutors have been asking students to think about potential subject areas. Topics can be drawn from favourite modules or areas of a module, but I didn’t feel there was anything that stood out, and I want to do it on something completely new. Since I know I am going back to the same school, I am thinking of topics that relate to that and one thing that is unusual is that the Reception teacher is male. So I am thinking of focusing on male workers in the early years. I haven’t fleshed this out yet but will do so early next year.

Jobs - and cocktails

I still have my job at Sheffield Hallam Nursery. I love working there and I have been working more hours now second year has finished. My relationships only grow with the children and staff and some children even remember my name (a difficult name to say, let alone remember)! Recently more casual workers joined from my course, year and seminar group so they have the same timetable. As a result, getting hours has been more of a struggle. This is the risk of working casual as it is first come, first served and you can miss out on hours. But when I do have free time I have definitely been enjoying the freedom and celebrating with one too many cocktails! Even when I was in the middle of assignments and the height of stress levels, I still gave myself breaks as I think it is important to enjoy time with friends for cocktails and catch ups, maybe not too often…

On your marks...

All this year’s assignments were due the in April and early May. I have now received my results, and am happy to share I achieved 72% in ‘Children as Thinkers and Communicators’, 76% in ‘Undertaking Research’ and 80% in ‘Inspiring and Engaging Children in the School Curriculum’. I couldn’t be happier! My grades have definitely improved from last semester and only hope to keep improving into next year. It has been a good end to my second year of Early Childhood Studies.