Early Years Practitioner

Job summary

Early Years Lead Practitioner

Acorn Early Years – Emberton, Milton Keynes
Full time | Monday–Friday |

If you are offerred an EYP role, you will received a £500 recruitment bonus after successfully completing your 3 month probation period. 

Acorn Early Years is seeking an experienced, motivated and passionate Early Years Lead Practitioner to join our team at Emberton Nursery. This is a full?time, permanent role, ideal for a confident Level 3 practitioner who is ready to take on increased responsibility, support their team and continue developing their leadership skills while remaining hands?on in practice.

We are located in what was the old school in the lovely village of Emberton, near Olney. We have adapted the building to younger children and added our Acorn touch, whilst retaining the character of the original architecture. We have developed the expansive outside area into an outdoor learning centre, which we offer a nature kindergarten during term-time for 3-4 year olds, and an outdoor playscheme in school holidays, for school aged children.

In the nursery, we offer full and part-time care for up to 37 places for babies, toddlers and pre-school children, and are open from 7.30am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday, all year round. All Acorn nurseries are closed for all bank holidays, between Christmas and new year, plus our four training days each year. This means the monthly fees are calculated over 49 weeks . You will not be charged for these days, however fees are payable for additional closure days which are out of our control, eg: additional bank holidays over the standard eight. In addition to the nursery, the outdoor learning centre offers a 24 place outdoor holiday club for children aged 4-13, alongside other outdoor sessions for the local community including our 16 place Nature Kindergarten. Over the next couple of years we aim to plant over 500 trees and shrubs, build several outdoor shelters and other wooden structures and sculptures, develop an orchard and allotment area, and develop a range of other outdoor provisions that will enhance the activities and sessions on offer.

The nursery children will enjoy regular forest school sessions and all our nursery experiences and activities are included in the standard nursery fees. The Emberton nursery also prides itself on its food, using only fresh, local, and ethically sourced produce to create delicious and nutritionally balanced meals, and will make the most of the location by aiming to grow our own produce and cook some meals outside!  All of our fees are fully inclusive – there are no hidden charges. All meals, snacks, drinks (including formula milk), nappies and activities are included in what you pay.

About the Role

As an Early Years Lead Practitioner, you will play a key role in supporting the day?to?day running of your room, role modelling high?quality early years practice and mentoring colleagues. Working closely with the Senior Practitioner and Deputy Manager, you will help drive quality, consistency and positive outcomes for children, families and staff.

This role provides a strong foundation for progression into senior leadership within Acorn Early Years.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Support

• Support the smooth day?to?day running of the room
• Lead the room in the absence of the Senior Practitioner or Deputy Manager, when required
• Support, mentor and guide colleagues, including apprentices and students
• Take ownership of delegated responsibilities with increasing independence
• Cascade key information and updates to the room team and management
• Role model Acorn’s ethos, values, policies and procedures at all times

Quality of Practice & Curriculum

• Deliver a holistic, child?centred curriculum in line with the EYFS
• Ensure high?quality interactions that support children’s development and interests
• Support planning in the moment and ensure observations and assessments are up to date
• Monitor children’s progress to ensure all children are supported to reach their full potential
• Promote children’s independence, physical challenge and emotional wellbeing
• Support positive behaviour strategies consistently across the room

Environment, Safeguarding & Compliance

• Ensure learning environments are stimulating, inclusive and well maintained
• Ensure resources are safe, accessible and engaging for all children
• Safeguard all children and follow Acorn safeguarding procedures at all times
• Maintain a safe, organised and well?supervised environment

Key Person & Partnerships

• Act as an effective key person and build strong relationships with children and families
• Communicate positively and professionally with parents and carers
• Complete accurate child?related documentation, including care plans, observations, accident forms and two?year checks (where applicable)
• Communicate confidently with external professionals, including Ofsted

What We’re Looking For

• Level 3 Early Years qualification (or above)
• Strong working knowledge of the EYFS and safeguarding requirements
• Experience within an early years setting with emerging leadership responsibilities
• Confidence to support and mentor others
• A calm, positive and professional approach
• A genuine desire to develop leadership skills and progress your career

Why Join Acorn Early Years?

At Acorn, we are committed to providing high?quality, inclusive early years education where children and staff thrive. We actively support career progression, professional development and leadership opportunities across our nurseries.

We are proud to be an inclusive employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds. Reasonable adjustments will be considered throughout the recruitment process.

Safeguarding & Compliance

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK, be able to provide two satisfactory references, and all roles are subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

Benefits
Working at Acorn

As a thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to making Acorn a safe, nurturing and fun place for our children to be, we offer:

• Payscales that are competitive, transparent and reviewed annually
• 65% Childcare discount Pro-rata according to contracted hours
• Generous family leave 
• Christmas closure 
• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays (and the option to buy more) 
• 4 dedicated training days and individual development plans 
• Enhanced pension scheme 
• Cyclescheme 
• Techscheme 
• Length of Service awards 
• Summer and Christmas parties 
• Pay advances for when times are tough
• Employee assistance wellbeing programme 

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