Job title: Nursery Assistant and Nursery Officer

Salary: B1 £25,185 - £25,989 Nursery Assistant and B3 £26,403 - £28,142 Nursery Officer

Hours: up to 37 hours per week (pro rata for part-time)

Contract: Permanent

Location: Little Owls Nurseries

Are you passionate about working with children? Are you ready to kickstart your childcare vocation? If so, we could have a brilliant opportunity for you. Leeds City Council are currently recruiting Nursery Officers and Nursery Assistant to their Little Owls nurseries.

Working at a Little Owls nursery is incredibly rewarding. You get to support young children during their most important years of development and see their progress every day. It’s a role filled with joy, creativity, and meaningful relationships, where you can make a positive, lasting impact on children and their families.

As our next nursery Officer or Assistant, you’ll be part of an excellent team who have your wellbeing and development at heart. Most of our nursery managers started their journeys as Assistants and Officers.

We’re committed to the ambition of Child Friendly Leeds. We want Leeds to be a city where all children are safe, happy and healthy, do well at school and fulfil their potential. Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

You will:

provide high quality care and education for all children and support for families
be responsible for ensuring that the day-to-day childcare provision in your assigned room is of a high standard
work with the wider leadership team to ensure a broad and balanced Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum is provided

About you:

We are looking for qualified, enthusiastic, adaptable candidates with personal qualities to care for and develop young children. You must have:

ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with a wide range of people individually, in groups and at all appropriate levels
ability to safeguard children and support them to develop their resilience
able to effectively use the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to lead planning and evaluation of activities to aid children’s learning
able to oversee the production of reports and plans to support children’s learning, development and wellbeing

Essential experience and qualifications:

minimum of level 2 qualification in childcare for Nursery Assistant and a minimum of Level 3 qualification for Nursery Officer. To check if your qualification is relevant, please go to: www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-qualifications-finder

good standard of literacy and numeracy
recent experience of working with young children and families

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidancefor further advice on completing your application.

Please be aware that successful applicants will be employed by Leeds City Council and not a particular centre and could be asked to work at any of the city-wide Little Owls Nurseries.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Wendy Mosley. Tel: 01133782550 Email: Wendy.Mosley@leeds.gov.uk

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a 6-month probationary period

B1 JOB DESCRIPTION -

Job purpose

Under the general direction of the Manager and senior staff, the Nursery Assistant role is to work as part of a team to deliver a high standard of care which meets the individual needs of the children. To make and maintain positive relationships with the children and to safely meet the physical care and management needs of children.

All staff are required to support the services main purpose of encouraging and enabling children to develop, behaviourally, educationally and emotionally. To create and maintain a customer focused attitude and approach at all times that promotes positive relationships and generates a culture of openness and trust. To deliver efficient, effective and quality services by way of flexible working. To work together with colleagues from other service areas and organisations to provide and maintain a safe secure and learning environment that promotes the safety and welfare of children in which they can prosper, develop and achieve. To foster, maintain and support pro-social behaviour, a restorative and solution focussed approach with, children, and colleagues.

Responsibilities

To provide high quality care and education for all children and support for families.
To provide a broad and balanced Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum that will meet the requirements of the relevant national and local standards.
To establish and deliver on the delivery of Individual Educational Programmes (IEP) and the Early Support Programme for children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities (SEND).
To observe and monitor children’s development and contribute to written reports of their progress.
To maintain client confidentiality.

To liaise with and provide professional advice to, parents, social workers and health visitors involved with a child and their family.
To liaise with local primary schools and prepare reports that will support the child’s transition into school.
To report any injury or accident, ensuring that health and safety of the individual is maintained.
To understand and operate the policies and procedures for the administration of medication including accurately recording and verifying drug sheets.
To report any suspicious or suspected non-accidental injury to follow and comply with Departmental Child Protection Procedures, in line with Local Safeguarding Children Board Procedures (West Yorkshire Consortium Procedures Manual).
To support student placements: to help prepare and present accurate, concise reports on these to the Manager and/or college tutors.
To provide interesting and appropriate educational visits for children and families, observing Health and Safety policies and making risk assessments as required.
To support parents and families where necessary in the successful admission and transition of their children
To take responsibility for a group of children during any building evacuation.
To participate in and provide training and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills.
To undertake other duties appropriate to the post as required by the Service.
To comply with the requirements of all Leeds City Council policies, procedures and staff instructions, including responsibilities under the Health and Safety Policy and Procedures.
To actively promote and support Leeds City Council's Policies on Equal Opportunities and to work in an anti-oppressive manner.

Qualifications

It is an essential requirement of this post that the post holder should hold a minimum of a relevant Level 2 qualification as defined by the Sector Skills Council for Childcare, the Children’s Workforce Development Council, as listed on their website at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-qualifications-finder

(NB this includes degrees recognised by the CWDC, such as the BA Hons. Childhood Studies, Early Years Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree but NOT other non- relevant degrees UNLESS Early Years Professional Status has also been achieved).

Personal specification

Essential requirements: The candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities. We will use one or more methods to assess whether candidates meet the essential requirements, including application form, interview, test and certificate.

We will only shortlist candidates for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Skills required

Able to communicate with a wide range of people individually, in groups and at all appropriate levels.
Ability to safeguard children and support them to develop their resilience. Able to motivate children through positive role modelling and sustain their interest in play activities.
Able to work as part of a team.
Able to listen and accept instructions.
Able to write reports and plans to document children’s learning, development and wellbeing, to the required standard.
Able to observe, record and monitor children’s development as they progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Able to work in partnership with parents and carers to support their children’s learning, development and wellbeing.
Able to support children and families in a culturally sensitive, positive and non-judgemental way. Able to support the development of children with special educational needs and disabilities in an inclusive setting. Able to complete risk assessments.
Able to effectively use the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to plan and evaluate activities to aid children’s learning.
Able to supervise students and apprentices.
Able to use ICT packages, including Word and Excel.
A flexible approach to working hours with the ability to change shift patterns as required.
An ability to work with staff at all levels, working as part of a team, contributing to team cohesion and liaising with other professionals

Knowledge required

A minimum of a relevant Level 2 qualification as defined in ‘Qualifications’ section above.
GCSE Maths and English or equivalent as recognised by CWDC (CSE at Grade 1, Key Skills at Level 3, ‘O’ Level) or commitment to achieve this within 2 years. A relevant and current Paediatric First Aid or Emergency Paediatric First Aid certificate or a commitment to achieve this within the first 3 months of employment, as required in the EYFS framework.
Knowledge and understanding of current legislation, policy and guidance relating to the work of Sure Start Children’s Centres including the 2004 Children Act, the 2006 Childcare Act, the Ofsted inspection framework, the EYFS, the SEN Code of practice and Working Together to Safeguard children 2015.
Knowledge of a range of factors which create stress for children and families and awareness of protective factors.
Current knowledge of practises to safeguard children and understanding of responsibility in the protection of children and promotion of their wellbeing.
Knowledge of guidance documents which support the development of young children’s learning Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) profile.

Experience required

Experience of working with children and/or families
Experience of work in a nursery or childcare environment
Experience of teamwork.
Experience of planning and organising play experiences for children.

Behavioural and other characteristics required

Committed to continuous improvement
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council’s Equality and Diversity Policy
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under the council's Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up-to-date knowledge, skills and continuous professional development
Understand and embrace our values, behaviours and codes of conduct

B3 JOB DESCRIPTION -

Job purpose

Under the general direction of the Manager and Senior staff, to work as part of the team to deliver a high standard of care which meets the individual needs of the children.