Under the guidance of Allison Moore, Bob Dunn and Nicola Schaefer from the Department of Social and Psychological Sciences, third year Early Childhood Studies students have just returned from a visit to Amsterdam, where they had the chance to learn more about child care services in the Netherlands. 

Serv Vinders, from Childcare International, and his colleagues, Anke van Keulen and Margot Meeuwig, spent a day with the students, introducing them to the Dutch childcare system and their adaptation of the Reggio Emilia approach. This educational philosophy, created following the Second World War in a village of the same name in Italy, focuses on preschool and primary school education. It centres on the principles of respect, responsibility and community through exploration and discovery, based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum. 

The Edge Hill students also visited Kindercentrum Pandaberen, a city-based day care centre, as well as attending sessions provided by social works from the William Schrikker Groep who discussed the Dutch child protection system and their work with disabled children. 

Allison Moore, Programme Leader for Early Childhood Studies, said: "Not only has this trip opened up possibilities for collaborative work between Edge Hill academics and child care professionals in Holland, it has provided the Early Childhood Studies students with routes into employment as they were invited to apply to Childcare International for professional day care posts on completion of their degree at Edge Hill."

The BA (Hons) degree in Early Childhood Studies gives students the opportunity to learn about the different perceptions and realities of childhood across the world. The course is closely linked to current Government policy and has been designed to respond to present and future developments in the area of early childhood.