BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care and Norland Diploma - 2023 entry (subject to validation)

Please note, this degree and diploma programme is for new students enrolling from September 2023 and is subject to validation.

    • Our world-famous training blends academic theory with practice to ensure you graduate fully qualified with extensive early years knowledge, practical skills and a wealth of hands-on experience.
    • You’ll study two distinct and fully integrated qualifications that are unique to Norland: a BA (Hons) in Early Childhood Education and Care and the prestigious Norland diploma.
    • Almost half of your time will be spent gaining practical experience on placement (1,318 hours) in a minimum of eight different early years settings including a 25-hour newborn experience.
    • In your fourth year, you will spend 12 months as a probationary nanny in paid full-time employment that we find for you in order to complete the Norland diploma.
    • You’ll receive employability focused training. We were recently named the top UK university for enhanced graduate outcomes (Whatuni, 2021) in recognition of our focus on graduate employment.
    • As a fully qualified graduate, you’ll gain access to your own dedicated employment agency offering 100% guaranteed employability, lifelong careers support and training.

Course details

Duration

3 years full-time
Plus 1 year in full-time salaried employment as a Newly Qualified Nanny to complete the Norland Diploma

Tuition fees

£16,055 (2023/24) — UK students
£18,165 (2023/24) — International students

Fees & study costs

Start date

September 2023

Course level

Undergraduate

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care and Norland Diploma (subject to validation)

UCAS institution code

N52

UCAS course code

X310

UCAS points

96

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What will I study?

This course provides an unrivalled opportunity to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding of the early years.

Our BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care degree is a three-year full-time undergraduate degree course. Our lecturers have a passion for this subject area and considerable professional and academic experience in education and working with families. Their teaching draws on many disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, child health, philosophy, social sciences and education. Guest speakers are regularly invited to Norland to give you an opportunity to listen to experts already working in the field.

Running alongside the degree and for a fourth year following completion of the degree is the prestigious Norland diploma. This qualification will prepare you for all the practical aspects of the care and development of young children as well as critical professional and life skills.

The final module of the diploma is the Newly Qualified Nanny (NQN) year, a 12-month probationary nanny post in paid full-time employment that we find for you and support you throughout.

How is the course structured?

Each of the three years is divided into three trimesters with your time split between campus-based training and placements. You will undertake at least eight placements over the three years.

In the third and final year of the degree, you will also be required to complete a work-based project on an early years topic of your choice. During the summer trimester of the third year, we focus on teaching you skills which will be relevant to your future employment. Among others, this includes first aid training, baby massage, employment contract advice, interview techniques, driving in arduous conditions and security training delivered by former military intelligence officers.

There are a number of different assessment methods for the degree and diploma courses at Norland. These include essays, presentations, vivas, portfolios, displays and a work-based project.

Find out how you will learn

BA (Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care course map

Year 1, Level 4 modulesCredits (CATS)Trimester
4201: The Developing Professional Practitioner (Core)201
4202: Practice in the Early Years 1: The Setting (Core)301, 2, 3
4203: Keeping Children Safe: Safeguarding and Child Protection (Core)101
4204: Learning, Development and Pedagogical Theory (Core)202
4205: Principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Core)102
4206: Introducing Self-Regulation (Core)202
4207: A Focus on Music, Drama and Theatre (Optional)51 or 2
4208: A Focus on Practical Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) (Optional)51 or 2
4209: A Focus on Children’s Literature (Optional)51 or 2
4210: A Focus on Sustainable Practice (Optional)51 or 2

Students will choose one option in trimester 1 and one option in trimester 2.

Year 2, Level 5 modulesCredits (CATS)Trimester
5201: Working Professionally with Parents and Carers (Core)201
5202: Practice in the Early Years 2: The Home (Core)301, 2, 3
5203: The Baby Years (Core)202
5204: Play: Exploring and Inventing (Core)101
5205: Promoting Health in Practice (Core)102
5206: Supporting Children to Regulate Behaviour (Core)201
5207: A Focus on Supporting Children to Understand Identity (Optional)51 or 2
5208: A Focus on Trauma (Optional)51 or 2
5209: A Focus on Multiple Childhoods (Optional)51 or 2
5210: A Focus on Siblings (Optional)51 or 2

Students will choose one option in trimester 1 and one option in trimester 2.

Year 3, Level 6 modulesCredits (CATS)Trimester
6201: Developing Your Nanny Philosophy (Core)101
6202: Practice in the Early Years 3: Supporting Families Through Leadership (Core)203
6203: Children’s Worlds Today (Core)201
6204: Work-Based Project (Core)501, 2
6205: Embedding Self-Regulation into Practice Through Play (Core)102
6206: A Focus on Management and Leadership Skills in a Formal Household (Optional)51 or 2
6207: A Focus on Supporting Loss (Optional)51 or 2
6208: A Focus on Entrepreneurship for Nannies (Optional)51 or 2
6209: A Focus on Growing with Children (Optional)51 or 2

Students will choose one option in trimester 1 and one option in trimester 2.

Norland diploma course map

Year 1 diploma modulesTrimester
ND 1.1: Professional Skills 1 (Core)1
ND 1.2: Basic Care Skills (Core)1
ND 1.3: Let’s Play! (Core)2
ND 1.4: Transitions 1 (Core)2
F&N 1.1: Foundation Cooking Skills (Core)1
F&N 1.2: Cooking for and with Babies and Children (Core)2
Sewing 1.1: Machine and Hand Sewing (Core)1
Sewing 1.2: Children’s Apron (Core)2

Year 2 diploma modulesTrimester
ND 2.1: Professional Skills 2 (Core)1
ND 2.2: Intermediate Care Skills (Core)1
ND 2.3: Playful Learning (Core)2
ND 2.4: Transitions 2 (Core)2
F&N 2.1: Managing Family Cooking (Core)1
F&N 2.2: Cooking for Dietary Needs (Core)2
Sewing 2.1: Children’s Appliquéd Learning Resource (Core)1
Sewing 2.2: Fabric Friend (Core)2

Year 3 diploma modulesTrimester
ND 3.1: Professional Skills 3 (Core)1
ND 3.2: Advanced Care Skills (Core)1
ND 3.3: Playful Environments (Core)2
ND 3.4: Transitions 3 (Core)2
F&N 3.1: Celebration Cookery (Core)1
F&N 3.2: Preparing for NQN (Core)2
Sewing 3.1: Fancy Dress (Core)1
Sewing 3.2: Children’s Quilted Blanket (Core)2

Year 4 diploma module
NQN: Newly Qualified Nanny (NQN) year – 12 months in paid full-time employment (Core)

Programme aims

  1. Equip students with the necessary professional leadership, management and practical skills to work in a variety of early childhood contexts, with a specialism in home-based childcare.
  2. Facilitate the application of in-depth and current knowledge to allow students to work effectively, confidently and ethically in a child-centred way with babies, infants and children; drawing on the latest multidisciplinary research and contemporary practice.
  3. Instil in students a respect for and an appreciation of the importance of diversity, inclusion, society and culture in relation to the growth and development of babies, infants and children.
  4. Facilitate the application of theoretical knowledge to real-world experiences, providing high quality early childhood education and care for babies and young children and support for their families with an ethos of mutual respect and understanding, and the loving pedagogy.
  5. Support students to become reflective practitioners with a critical understanding of the diverse worlds of babies and young children, and an awareness of how early childhood experiences shape their lives.
  6. Support students to reflect critically on and develop their own education and childcare pedagogies, theory and leadership capacities, by engaging with debate and discourse with reference to multidisciplinary research, legislation, policy and international perspectives.
  7. Equip students with the skills to manage the wellbeing of both themselves and the babies and young children in their care, and the tools to support young children to co- and self-regulate across the many transitions which babies, children and their families experience.
  8. Equip students with an awareness of sustainability and ecological practices in early childhood and education contexts, both for themselves and the babies, young children and families with whom they work.

 

Programme learning outcomes

A1. Have good knowledge and critical understanding of child developmental theories and trajectories and the fundamental importance of play.

A2. Have the necessary knowledge and practical skills for leading and managing in a variety of early childhood education and care contexts, promoting sustainability and creating an innovative and entrepreneurial working environment.

A3. Understand the importance of co- and self-regulation in underpinning a child’s sense of themselves and the world, and how they act and interact within it.

B1. Have a critical understanding of the complexities of working with families, agencies and other professionals, and develop appropriate skills ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion.

B2. Be able to critically approach and carry out work-based research projects to inform their practice.

C1.  Develop their own pedagogical approach and practice attuned to contextual factors and the voices of children, to work confidently and safely in a variety of early childhood education and care contexts.

C2. Gain deep and critical understanding of professional and research ethics and be able to apply them in early childhood education and care contexts.

D1. Have deep and critical understanding of observational and reflective practice and acquire the skills to apply them.

D2. Acquire general critical and transferable skills to be able to work in variety of roles in relevant sectors.

What is different about the new degree and diploma programme?

At Norland, we are continually reviewing and updating our curriculum in line with the latest evidence-based research and industry developments and practices. We do this to ensure that our training remains at the forefront of academic early childhood training and produces the highest practice standards demanded of an excellent Norland Nanny, as our fully qualified graduates are known.

We are excited to be offering this brand-new degree and diploma programme for new students starting in September 2023, subject to validation. The new programme will lead to the award of a BA (Hons) in Early Childhood Education and Care, which replaces our current BA (Hons) Early Years Development and Learning degree, and the Norland diploma.

The new degree will still be fully integrated with our new diploma and the successful completion of both degree and diploma will still lead to a professional career as a Norland Nanny. With a recognised early years degree behind them, many Norlanders also progress into other professions that involve working with children including teaching, nursing, consultancy and further studies.

The new programme is in its final stages of development and will shortly undergo a rigorous academic approval process, known as validation.

 

What does subject to validation mean?

All new higher education courses go through a rigorous academic approval stage before they are finalised as a programme of study – this process is known as validation. Validation ensures that a new programme is academically viable, that academic standards have been appropriately defined and that all students are offered the best opportunities to learn. ‘Subject to validation’ means that the programme is in the last stage of the validation process and is awaiting final approval by the validation panel, which includes external academic experts in the early years, and our Academic Board.

As an approved higher education provider, Norland adheres to strict regulations set by the Office for Students and the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, so you can be assured that our new degree programme complies with the high academic standards set for all UK higher education institutions.

Why choose Norland?

Students share their Norland stories

male headshot in Norland nanny uniform

“My time at Norland so far has been an extraordinary adventure.”

Ike

Read Ike's story
female headshot in Norland nanny uniform

“If you are passionate about working with children, there is no better place to study than Norland.”

Hannah

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female headshot in Norland nanny uniform

“Norland doesn’t just make you a nanny, it makes you an amazing early years practitioner.”

Emily

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female Norland nanny in uniform on door step in-between two children

“Never have I been in an environment with more considerate, kind and loving people as at Norland”.

Abi

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