As a childhood studies student, you can choose from a wide range of career pathways leading to jobs in education, social work and early years childcare. Our courses include both practical and theoretical elements designed to help you learn the transferable skills you need for your chosen career.
We also help all of our childhood studies students secure a work placement in their chosen field. We have great working relationships with many employers who provide valuable hands-on experience to help students develop their skills and knowledge. Take a look at the videos below to find out what makes our Childhood Studies and Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools courses tick.
Leon Turner has been at the college for 4 years. He spent a year doing Business before moving to Childhood Studies and is now ready to start working in the nursery where he did his placement.
“I think the people I worked with on my placement saw how capable I was because I made sure I was professional and worked well with the kids. I love that every day is different, you’ll never have the same day twice.”
Alfie Rhodes is also starting work in his placement nursery as soon as he finishes college. He explains why he loves working with kids.
“It’s so rewarding to see a child do something that they couldn’t do before! I’ll be working in different rooms at my nursery, like the baby room. I think with the younger kids that’s where you feel like you can make a real difference.”
We have Level 1 courses up to Level 5 and T Level courses available in Childcare.
Level 1
If you are a kind, caring and polite individual and have a desire to work with young people, our Level 1 course is a great place to start. Working in an education or nursery setting is very different to babysitting for friends or family. This course is for those interested in a career as a nursery practitioner, care worker or Teaching assistant. Level 1 allows you to gain the qualifications to progress along the levels. As part of Level 1, you will spend two weeks on placement, giving you a chance to experience a nursery setting and decide whether you want to progress further.
Find out more about our Level 1 course.
Level 2
The Level 2 course is a great progression route from Level 1. It’s the next step towards working in an educational setting.
You will undertake a placement one day a week as well as a range of units to equip you with the knowledge to be able to work with children. The units include child development, safeguarding, additional learning needs and understanding responsibilities. These will be taught across theory and practical.
The course will allow you to progress onto Level 3 or onto an apprenticeship.
Find out more about the Level 2 course.
Level 3
Care for and educate young children with our Level 3 course. The early years of development of a child are the most important. You will spend two days on placement and three days in college. You will study 7 units across in the first year around baby development, health, play, observation, safety and SEND.
In year two you’ll learn about preparing children for school and their maths and English skills. You’ll learn about your future occupation options and progression to HE. We will undertake visits to universities and have industry speakers where you will go to lectures about job roles from those in the industry.
Our units are designed to allow learners to become excellent practitioners.
Level 4 and 5 Foundation in Children and Young People.
This qualification is equivalent to two years of an undergraduate degree.
You will have full access to our partner universities’ resources as well as the colleges. The course is part-time and takes 3 years to complete.
There are 12 modules. In your first year, you’ll learn about communication, ethics and values. In your second year, you’ll choose whether to specialise in Early Years, Teaching Assistant or Special Educational Needs.
This will give you a Level 5 qualification that you can ‘top-up’ to gain a full degree after completion.
T-Level in Education and Early Years
This T-Level course is for students who wish to pursue a career working with children and families. T-Levels have been introduced gradually over the last 3 years in England as a route into a wide number of education and childcare-related careers. As this is a new course the content is aligned with the skills and knowledge required to work in the early years sector right. Students will be able to utilise specialist resources and take part in lessons where they will learn about a wide range of important factors to prepare them for the transition to industry.
Industry Work Placements play a vital part of the T-Level programme and students will spend over 715 hours with 1 or 2 employers over the 2 years. The knowledge and skills taught and developed in the classroom can be refined during this time and designated industry professionals will support students to progress and become competent.
Upon completion of this qualification, students will have a licence to practice meaning that they will be ready to enter the workforce or progress onto higher education.
Tilly Clarke…
“Work placements are the thing that I’ve really enjoyed this year and last year. My favourite placement was working in a nursery. I did the nursery placement last year, so much so, that on my day off, I go back and help out. I just love it so much, over summer, between finishing my course and going to Canada, I’m hoping to get a job there.”
Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools (STLS)
Gain a Level 2 and/or Level 3 qualification, essential for becoming a teaching assistant. Both our Level 2 and Level 3 are made up of 16 units that cover a wide variety of topics that you need knowledge on when working in a school. The courses are a year long and made up of written observations, placements and professional discussion. The placement at Level 2 is 6 hours a week and the placement at Level 3 is 12 hours a week, having already worked in an educational setting for 12 months.
Find out more about our courses here.
PGCE
Are you interested in teaching in Further Education or Sixth Form colleges? Gain the qualification you need to teach in the area of Post-16 and Further Education.
This course is for anyone who is new to teaching, or who is already working as a teacher and wants to become qualified.
Validated by Sheffield Hallam University, you would become a student of the university and Chesterfield College and benefit from lecturers possessing a breadth and depth of knowledge of experiences in post-16 teaching and learning.
The course is taught 100% at Chesterfield College. As a student of both institutes, you will benefit from access to both libraries and online resources. You will also receive support on your QTLS (Qualified Teaching and Learning Status) application, which provides you with the equivalent of Qualified Teacher Status, enabling you to teach secondary school students.
Find out more about our PGCE course.
Apprenticeship Opportunities
Level 2 Early Years Practitioner