Early Years Practitioner

Closing date: N/A

Job Title:

Responsible to:

Early Years Manager

Responsible for:

Nursery Children

Hours of Work:

45 hours per week

Location:

YMCA Sefton Nursery in Southport

Salary and benefits:

£22,789.35 per annum
£9.93 p/h
33 Days Annual leave including holidays
Paid Medicash support
Birthday bonus
Charity day of your choice
Well-being Hours
Cycle To Work Scheme
Refer a Friend Scheme
Christmas Voucher
Company Pension Scheme 4%
Funded Training Opportunities

YMCA Together is a registered charity and company Limited by Guarantee. We were founded in 1846 and so we build on a long history of providing a place for people experiencing challenging times in their lives.

YMCA Together is a truly value driven organisation.

Our vision is that everyone should feel safe, understood, empowered and positive for their future. We meet our vision by working within our values of Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy and Kindness. These SHREK values run through all that we do from recruitment to how we work alongside people in our services to our partnership approach with other providers.

Our clear vision and values come together to help us in our mission to inspire and support people to change their lives by instilling hope, valuing the person and maximising potential.

Service

The post holder will be based at YMCA Sefton Nursery located in Southport. They will work closely with the Room senior and other practitioners within the room to provide a caring environment for the children to grow learn and develop their skills.

Job Purpose

The Nursery Practitioner will provide a high standard of physical, emotional, social and intellectual care for children placed in the setting and will give support to their colleagues within the setting, along with team work to provide an enabling environment in which all individual children can play, develop and learn. The postholder will be expected to build and maintain strong partnership working with parents to enable children’s needs to be met.

Hours of work

The post holder will be working Monday to Friday during the hours of 8-6.

Duties and Responsibilities

To effectively deliver the EYFS ensuring that the individual needs and interest of children in the setting are met (in conjunction with other team members)
To keep records of your key children’s development and learning journeys and share with parents, carers and other key adults in the child’s life.
Support all staff and engage in a good staff team.
To develop and maintain strong partnerships and communication with parents/carers to facilitate day-to-day caring and early learning needs.
To ensure the provision of a high-quality environment to meet the needs of individual children having an awareness of any disabilities, family cultures and medical histories.
To advise manager/deputy of any concerns, e.g., over children, parents, the safety of the environment, preserving confidentiality, as necessary. Always adhering to the safeguarding policies and procedures.
To comply with the organisation’s Equality and Diversity policies and procedures
To participate in the organisation’s Staff Performance Management Review
To be proactive in always safeguarding all children.
To be involved in out of working hours activities, e.g., training, staff meetings, events etc
To be flexible within working practices of the setting, undertaking other responsible duties where needed, such as domestic tasks, preparation of snack meals, cleansing of equipment, etc.
To work alongside the manager and staff team to ensure that the setting’s philosophy is fulfilled.
To read, understand and adhere to all policies and procedures relevant to your role and the safe running of the setting.
To develop your role within the team, especially with regard to being a key person
To keep completely confidential any information regarding the children, their families or other staff that is acquired as part of the job.
To be aware of the high profile of the setting and to uphold its standards at all times, both in work hours and outside.
To support apprentices, students and volunteers.
To ensure good standards of safety, hygiene and cleanliness are maintained at all times.
To undertake and lead on additional responsibilities such as parent champion, Mental health first aider.
Any other duties as assigned from time to time which fall within the reasonable remit of the post

Health and Safety

Always ensure the safety of yourself and others on the premises in which you work
Conduct Health and Safety checks as required
Report, log and communicate all incidents to the appropriate people
Ensure adherence to YMCA Together visitor’s policy and procedure
Adhere to all Risk Management Protocols.

Internal Relationships

Excellent communication with all YMCA Together service users and staff
Flexible and positive approach with all service users and team members
To be committed to learning and personal development both as an individual and as part of a team
Sharing information and expertise with the team, covering absence, and working together to provide a high-quality service
Attend team meetings as required.

External Relationships

Develop excellent relationships with parents thought open communication.
Build relationships with professionals that help provide additional support.

General

Ensure compliance with Code of conduct, including professional boundaries and confidentiality
Deal promptly with all complaints
To be proactive in always safeguarding all children by committing to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults who use the organisation’s services by being aware policies and procedures regarding Child Protection, being aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse by attending relevant courses, reporting all causes for concern to the Safeguarding Officer, ensuring the safety of all children in the Nursery environment both indoor and outdoor and carrying out risk assessments in consultation with the staff members prior to activities.
Familiarise yourself with and ensure compliance with all YMCA Together policies and procedures
Prepare for and attend supervision and annual appraisal with your line manager taking direction as appropriate and contributing to the development of both yourself and the service.

Person Specification – Early Years Practitioner

Qualifications – Essential

Childcare qualification level 3 or above.
minimum Level 1 Safeguarding training or willingness to undertake this

Qualifications – Desirable

2 years plus experience of working in a childcare setting.
Recent paediatric First Aid certificate
Basic Food Hygiene

Experiences – Essential

Experience of working with children aged birth to 4 years
Knowledge of how to maintain records on individual children’s development

Experiences – Desirable

Experience planning age and stage appropriate activities.
Have been a key person for a group of children.
Experience of working closely with families.

Knowledge – Essential

Knowledge of child development
Knowledge of legislation relevant to Early Years such as EYFS, safeguarding, Childcare act 2006

Knowledge – Desirable

Experience of implementation of EYFS
Experience of working in partnership with parents

Skills – Essential

Understanding and commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults
Organised, with excellent planning and time management skills
Strong and demonstrable people management skills
Ability to work as part of a team
Ability to prioritise and manage own workload

Behaviour – Attributes – Essential

Committed to own personal development and CPD planning
Courteous manner towards Parents, professionals, and colleagues
Creative and dynamic approach with the ability to “think outside of the box” when providing solutions
Energetic, highly motivated with a reputation of being held in high regard by their peers
Excellent interpersonal/ communication skills
Committed to own career development
Reliable
Ability to work within and have commitment to YMCA Together’s ethos, philosophy and SHREK values, Strength, Humility, Respect, Empathy and Kindness.
Energetic, dynamic, and self-motivated

If you would like to apply for this role please click here APPLY NOW

To download a copy of our application form, please click HERE

If you would like to apply not directly through the website, please email your completed application form to recruitment@ymcatogether.org.uk

Apply Now