The Early Years floor at Nord Anglia International School, New York is a truly special place. We differ from other schools in the area because we follow the English national curriculum which starts children off on their educational journey earlier than their US counterparts. As soon as a child joins our Early Years, they enter a play-based, child-centered environment which, on the surface, looks to be unstructured and focused purely on play. However, each day is carefully planned by our teachers. Learning outcomes in seven areas of development are woven into fun and engaging activities, often around a theme which students will study for around a month at a time. Our two-year-olds are introduced to phonics as soon as they join us. While some students are not ready to learn to read, they will enjoy learning about the sounds that the letters stand for, as well as developing their fine motor skills while decorating a letter, or drawing with their finger in shaving foam.
Our academics are particularly strong in our Early Years department. By the end of reception (pre-K), our students will be reading and writing independently. Similarly, we focus on building a strong foundation in math. We teach ‘mastery’ which means that students really understand the meaning behind numbers and learn tactics to help them work out math problems quickly and fluently.
The English system is particularly helpful to teachers because it focuses on developmental stages that students should be hitting throughout the weeks, months, and years that they are with us. Our teachers monitor students’ progress, record, and report back to parents each term. We can see where a student is excelling, meeting standards or perhaps where they need some support. This reporting is done across all areas of development which gives teachers and parents an accurate view of where the student is and what areas may need focused on. While some students may be excelling physically or linguistically, they may need extra attention in another area. This system is particularly helpful to our teachers when they are planning lessons so that they can ensure each individual student has a differentiated learning journey.
The English National Curriculum in the Early Years focuses on seven areas of development.
These are:
The first three are the core areas of development which are given more focus in the Early Years. The main idea behind this is that a happy, confident, and secure child, who can communicate, understands their place within the classroom, will be ready and able to learn better.
Our teachers work hard to ensure that each student learns at their own pace and is challenged at whatever level they are at. We ensure engaged and motivated students by following student’s interests as much as possible in class. Each student can choose freely what they play with each day because the classroom toys and materials are all laid out in the classroom within their reach. We place a strong emphasis on independence and this fosters strong and confident learners within our school.
Our teaching in every year group in the school is not limited by a rigid curriculum and so a student who is ready and able to learn will always be challenged. We have had students who are three or four years old who are reading at the level of a six year old, and we ensure that these students are given adequate challenge as well as focused attention from a teacher who will make sure that their learning continues.
Not only do our students have access to outstanding teachers, and curricula, but they also have the use of a beautiful and bright playroom as well as rooftop playground, large sized gym and dance, drama and music spaces. We seek to further build on our offer by having a varied selection of classes in our after-school program. Students and their parents can choose between academic, sporting, and artistic classes that include: ‘Ooey Gooey Science’, tennis, Mandarin, and ballet, among others. As well as this, our students also have access to our Juilliard program through their music classes, and from Year 1 (Kindergarten), drama and dance is added to the curriculum along with art. Our students across the whole school also benefit from our collaboration with MIT which brings together all areas of learning in project-based STEAM learning challenges that classes work on throughout the school year.
We recognize that in the Early Years especially, it is important to have good lines of communication established between home and school. Our 2s families receive a daily sheet which reports back to parents about their child that day. Families of students throughout the school also receive daily photo updates through an app as well as an email from their teacher each week. We work hard to ensure that our families are supported and knowledgeable about their children’s learning and believe that by working together, we will ensure the best outcome for our students.
Our vision at NAISNY is “to empower our diverse community to be globally responsible, achieve ambitions and thrive on their chosen paths”. We worked hard as a school and community to put our combined visions for the school and our students into one phrase. We all agreed that we seek to give our students the best start in life, to support them in their endeavors and encourage them to try new things as well as to take risks. At NAISNY we have a diverse community that represents over 40 nationalities around the world. We celebrate our differences and take an active interest in each other’s’ cultures and customs. Students receive a truly international education at our school and one which prepares them for success in an ever-changing world and in environments where skills such as resilience, adaptability and cooperation will be valued.
Our NAISNY habits seek to encourage students to develop those important skills and we celebrate each week students who have demonstrated these skills.
The NAISNY habits are:
We often hear from parents who have toured that they were surprised and delighted to see our facilities and found talking to our teachers incredibly helpful in helping them decide to what sort of school they would like to send their child. We encourage all families looking for a school for their child in New York to come and tour our school. We offer in-person tours to families throughout the week, Monday to Friday. This gives a unique opportunity to meet teachers, see the facilities and see our students in action. We can also connect prospective families with one of our current families so that they can hear directly what it is like to be a part of our school and community.
We look forward to meeting you soon!
The NAISNY Admissions Team.
Nord Anglia International School, New York
