Norland College, BA (Hons), Early Childhood Studies

Modules include: child development; the creative child; working with families; supporting literacy development; supporting mathematical development; the team around the child; the child's world; an important aspect of course is the practical experience working with children; the student spends every other week working in early years placements, which are changed every term; this gives the student 6 varied experiences within early years settings, caring for 3 different age ranges (from 0-8) and the opportunity to see varying early years practices; the placements, which are all in and around Bath, include: day nurseries, nursery schools, primary schools (reception and junior classes); paediatric, maternity and special care baby wards of local hospitals; Tumble Tots; a short time in a special needs placement (for example working with children who have hearing impairments); 2 week residential family placement (2nd year); the placements are in a combination of both private and publicly funded settings; all placements are specially selected and monitored by the placement coordinator; this part of the course is something that the students particularly enjoy; it is an ideal opportunity for the student to put into practice what they have learnt in their theoretical and practical lectures and enables them to reflect on their own and other professional practice.