Nursery Senior Practitioner

Willand, Cullompton, UK Honeybees Day Nursery & Pre School Senior Practitioner

The nursery is a provider of high-quality childcare and education for young children within a fun, stimulating and safe environment. We work in close partnership with parents/carers as well as meeting the children’s individual needs.

Safeguarding Statement We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect the staff, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment.

Purpose of the post

To lead, plan, develop and support the education and care of all the children within the setting. Knowledge • A strong understanding of children’s development and their needs. • A strong knowledge of how to safeguard children. • A minimum Level 3 qualification in Early Years or equivalent. • An awareness of Special Needs and requirements needed to meet those needs. • A willingness to develop own professional development. Training will be provided in-house, with refresher courses and online updates. • An awareness of Health, Hygiene & Safety in the workplace. • An awareness of Equal Opportunities. • An appreciation of building strong partnerships with parents throughout the setting and confidently working through any concerns that may arise. Abilities • To have a strong knowledge of the Statutory Framework and work within its boundaries. • To have understanding and knowledge of how to guide staff and observe good practice.

Senior Practitioner Honeybee • To lead a team of practitioners, trainees and volunteers. • Meeting deadlines efficiently.

* The ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with both the children and their families.

* To ensure that a high-level of quality childcare is always provided.

* To actively promote an effective team environment, supporting and motivating the team to support best practice.

* Emotional resilience to support challenging behaviours.

* Able to communicate effectively with parents and colleagues.

* Able to work under pressure.

* To read and abide by the nursery’s policies and procedures.

* Good organisational skills.

* Able to show reliability and initiative.

* To have a professional attitude and manner.

* An enthusiastic approach to work.

* Flexibility to work within the changing needs of the nursery

. • A willingness to adhere to nursery learning targets

. • Being able to provide comprehensive feedback to the parents at the end of the child’s day.

* Able to write reports, observations and transitions enabling a strong picture of the child’s development, and any needs they may have.

* Being able to work as part of a team, developing positive relationships with children, colleagues, parents and any outside agencies.

* The ability to carry out light physical duties to include lifting babies and children. To include household tasks and setting up resources.

* A positive attitude to the use of authority and maintaining discipline.

* Act with integrity and trust.

* Be sensitive about what you say and how you act around the children.

* Make time to acknowledge all families, including visits and settle sessions.

* Always remember you are part of a team, acknowledging your colleagues throughout your day builds a stronger work environment.

* Be imaginative and proactive in the base rooms and the outdoor areas, when setting up activities.

Roles and responsibilities 2 of 8 Job description – Senior Practitioner Honeybees

* To deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and other appropriate guidance for young children in accordance with the nursery policies and procedures.

* Plan a nurturing and enriching curriculum in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), record observations and achievements, noting progression and continuity to support next steps for each child.

* Ensure that you are providing an attractive, stimulating and safe environment for the children both indoors and outside. Activities planned and provided are following the children’s interests and support their developmental needs.

* Operate an inclusive room that reflects cultural, religious, ethical or personal preference that relates to religion or cultural beliefs.

* Act upon or monitor all child protection and safeguarding issues and accidents to ensure that any action required is taken immediately.

* Be vigilant and diplomatic if you feel that there is a safeguarding or protection issue pertinent to a child, their family or a staff member. Following safeguarding procedures if there is any doubt.

* Overall responsibility of the room, to lead the room by example, always promoting good practice.

* To be responsible for the room risk assessments and other areas that are deemed necessary. Be responsible for the yearly update or of any significant changes.

* To always ensure the room is kept tidy and organised to allow for the efficient use of time and to maintain the high-quality standards that are set as our ongoing objective.

* To have sound knowledge and understanding of all policies and procedures. • Always have appropriate staffing levels, in line with the nursery management and ensuring compliance with regulations relating to minimum staffing levels are adhered to.

* Actively work the Key Worker system and allocate key children to all staff in your room. Consideration should be made to EAL children.

* Maintain accurate records for all children including attendance registers.

* Update the nursery software of any child absences and inform the SMT of any concerns or patterns that could be emerging.

Job description – Senior Practitioner Honeybees

* Work in partnership with parents/carers, recognising that parents are their children’s first educators. Encourage parental involvement in nursery life as much as possible.

* To ensure you have a clear understanding of the settling of new children into your room. Ensuring all transitions, whether between rooms within the setting or to go onto a different setting/school are completed fully.

* To support the junior staff ensuring they always provide high quality childcare which is modelled by you

* To ensure when leaving the room to complete other duties, you inform the staff you are leaving the room and that the staff are aware of what is expected of them, ensuring that it will not compromise or cause undue pressure on their abilities to perform their job.

* To ensure that any input into the staff 6 weekly supervisions is carried out on a regular basis to assist the staff with their development within their job role.

* To assist the Senior Management Team (SMT) in on-the-job training and support for employees.

* To assist the SMT during the completion of induction training and monitor the progress of new employees during the probation period.

* To support the team with active encouragement of continual development of good practice.

* Be proactive in contributing to effective team working and foster open and honest communication amongst all the team within the setting.

* Commit to on-going personal learning and development and attend on and off the job training when appropriate. • Work in partnership with Early Years professionals, for example, the Local Authority and SENCo.

* To comply with requests to work outside normal working hours, within reason, for example to attend monthly staff meetings and nursery events. To also cover if staff are unexpectedly unavailable to work or are on holiday.

* Ensure your team adhere to the nursery policies regarding personal health, hygiene, dress code, punctuality, sickness and absence and general app