Nursery Practitioner - Level 2

Buckden Day Nursery

Job Title: Nursery Practitoner – Level 2

Hours: 40 hours – Full Time

Salary: £12.68 per hour / £26,374.40 per annum

Buckden Day Nursery are curiosity approach accredited and full of natural heuristic resources, come and join us and be wowed by our inspirational environments and in the moment planning that supports children’s exploration and understanding of the world.

The nursery building is made up of small intimate rooms allowing free flow between different dedicated spaces for the children and staff, ready to get messy… lets go in the art room, want to role play, come and join our home corner area, regardless of your interests we’ve got something for you!

Being set in a beautiful village allows us to go for local walks regularly and really embed ourselves into our community. As a team we love spending time outside, not just on walks but in our large spacious gardens. The children enjoy spending time in the allotment area, mud kitchens and sunken sandpits with separate areas for our youngest children so all rooms can be in the garden at the same time. Over the coming months our pre school children are very excited to be starting forest school at the local school grounds and within our garden we are opening our woodwork station for some hands on learning and risk taking in a safe environment!

We have a well established team that feel like a family with a mixture of ages and up to 20 years service. When joining the team you will be joining a support network who value you, your ideas, opinions and ambitions. With a thorough induction process, buddy system and opportunities for inspirational continuous development and learning.

Our nursery is rated Ofsted OUTSTANDING and we strive for this high quality every day. We are proud to be recognised as an environment and team with Ofsted noting 'The ethos and environment are inspirational. Children are valued and respected. They are strongly supported by nurturing practitioners.' 

Nursery Practitioner main duties and responsibilities*:

• Provide stimulating and purposeful experiences, environments, and resources to children, that are appropriate to their age and stage of development.
• Understand and ensure that the requirements of the statutory framework for the EYFS are met.
• Ensure the highest levels of cleanliness and hygiene in the nursery and promote these daily in every routine.
• Undertake any other duties to ensure the smooth running of the nursery, and the safety and wellbeing of children, staff, and families.
• Maintain strictly professional relationships and report any complaints or concerns to management in accordance with company policy and procedures.
• Facilitate a strong key person approach to enable children to form secure attachments and cover all children daily when colleagues are absent
• Attend regular team meetings to ensure that you remain updated on key priorities, changes, developments and regularly review company policies and procedures.

*Duties and responsibilities in this job description are not exhaustive or restrictive, changes and other duties relevant to this post may be added.

Requirements and skills:

• Full and relevant Level 2 or above childcare qualification – essential
• Fluent in written and spoken English - essential
• Over 1 year’s experience of working in Early Years - desirable
• Knowledge of the Statutory framework for the EYFS and regulatory requirements - desirable

Why Join Us?

At Family First, we value our team members and offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Annual Leave: Starting at 24 days, plus a paid day off for your birthday and bank holidays 
• Employee discount / Childcare: 75% off nursery fees for our team member’s
• Health & wellbeing programme: Confidential employee assistance helpline available and mental health first aid trained staff.  
• Development: Tailored learning and development opportunities to support your career growth
• Company Pension Scheme
• Referral Programme: Recommend a friend for a role and if they are successful receive a cash bonus.
• On-Site Parking / Free Parking
• Qualification Bonus: We value the dedication and expertise of our Level 3 Practitioners. To show our appreciation for their (and hopefully your) hard work and commitment, we’re excited to offer a £400 Qualification Recognition bonus to all our Level 3 Practitioners across all our Nurseries.

This bonus will be paid after just 6 months of service, making it the perfect time to join our team and be recognized for your qualifications and contributions. (based on a 40hr working week, bonus will be pro-rota for part time staff)

We are committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  A Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate will be required for all posts. This post will be subject to enhanced checks as part of our Safeguarding Duty. 

Buckden Day Nursery is part of the Family First Group where we take great care to treat everyone as a person, with equal rights and responsibilities to any other individual, whether they are an adult or a child. We are committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families according to their individual needs. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin, or political belief has no place within the Family First Group.