HE Students Bringing “The Younger Years” to the Airwaves

Level 5 Young Children’s Learning and Development students are taking their studies to listeners as they launch a weekly podcast entitled “The Younger Years”. Students will be discussing a wide range of topics around early years, child development, and learning.

Students are completely in control of the topic choice, leading on subjects that are important to them and ensuring an interesting and in-depth discussion.

The first episode dealt with an issue that has featured heavily in the news recently; mobile phone and screen use for children under 5. Students were tasked with coming with their own opinions, any research they had found useful and interesting, and a link to news articles to support the discussion. The episode explored how screen use may affect areas such as language development, attention span, and early learning.

For another session, Level 3 Early Years Educator T Level Students interviewed our HE students about CPD, including trying to think on their feet, adapt to situations and effectively communicating with children in their care, other caring professionals, and parents and carers.

The idea behind the podcast series is to give our HE students the opportunity to broaden the way in which they highlight their skills, and to showcase what a great sector Early Years is! The industry can be funny, great but also serious and this is a terrific way to help breakdown stereotypes whilst advertising in an innovative way the great facilities and courses at Craven College that start the next cohort of Early Years professionals on their journey.

Lucy Woodhead, Programme Lead for HE Young Children’s Learning and Development said, “As a teacher, it has been incredibly rewarding to see our HE students collaborate with T Level students on the Early Years podcast. The experience not only strengthened their subject knowledge but also fostered peer learning, confidence, and a shared professional voice. It truly reflects the value of collaborative practice within Early Years education.”

Find out more about Higher Education at Craven College and our Early Years department.