Bank Staff

Acorn Early Years; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 12,000 - 15,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount

Family leave

Annual leave

Training days

Pension scheme

Cyclescheme

Wellbeing programme

Job summary

Acorn Early Years in Milton Keynes is seeking a Bank Nursery Assistant for Westcroft Nursery to support a holistic approach to early years learning.

You will help meet basic care needs, promote well-being, and ensure activities reflect Acorn’s ethos and policies. The role involves working with a caring, collaborative team to provide a safe and stimulating environment for children aged four months to four years.

Qualifications

• Experience with under-fives is desirable but not required.
• Knowledge of EYFS and safeguarding policies preferred.
• Ability to work as part of a team and adapt to busy settings.

Responsibilities

• Support high-quality interactions with children based on their stage of development.
• Follow safeguarding policies and maintain a safe, welcoming environment.
• Build positive relationships with parents and carers.
• Help provide rich, hands-on learning experiences across the curriculum.
• Ensure resources are available and refreshed for daily activities.
• Assist with planning in the moment and observations to inform next steps.
• Support other staff and supervise where needed.
• Safeguard all children in our care.

Job description

We are looking for a Bank Nursery Assistant for our Westcroft Nursery.

Acorn at Westcroft is situated in the Westcroft District Centre, and is adjacent to our training centre where we host training for our staff and other early years professionals.The nursery has three outdoor play areas, giving children the opportunity to free-flow indoors and outdoors to access a full range of activities. Acorn places a strong emphasis on outdoor play and learning, and the children will be outdoors at some point every day, whatever the weather.Included in our fees are regular Forest School sessions. These exciting educational experiences are suitable for pre-schoolers and are delivered by fully trained forest school leaders and offer an innovative approach to outdoor play. We are very fortunate to have Howe Park Wood on our doorstep, which we visit regularly.

We offer full and part-time care for up to 92 children from the age of four months to four years, and are open from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, all year round.

The nursery offers Forest School sessions that take place weekly for our older children as well as many planned events throughout the year such as; sports days, graduations, messy stay and plays and cultural themed days. We are also passionate about getting involved with the local community, regularly visiting a group of elderly people at the Shenley Parish Council building nearby; hosting visits from the fire brigade, police, dentist and vets and arranging days where our parents can get involved in nursery life through reading, cooking, show and tell and joining us for forest school sessions.

Role:

• To support a holistic approach to the curriculum
• To ensure basic care needs of individual children are met
• To ensure a high level of well-being among children
• To have a good understanding of Acorn’s ethos, values, policies and procedures and that they are reflected in daily practice
• A good working knowledge and practice of the EYFS and safeguarding procedures
• To assist in the smooth day to day running of your group
• To carry out tasks requested

Responsibility

• To ensure the interactions with children are high quality and based on individual need/stage of development
• To demonstrate a positive approach to children’s behaviour working in-line with our policy and procedure
• To ensure there are professional, positive relationships demonstrated with parents
• To ensure the environment offers rich, first hand learning opportunities for all children which accommodates a holistic approach to the curriculum
• To support in making sure resources and equipment are readily available, accessible and replenished both inside and outside
• To ensure children’s interests are being met and appropriate teaching methods are being used to extend children’s thinking and learning.
• To support all staff, working as part of a team, adapting your role as necessary, and taking on specific responsibilities as required, including supporting inexperienced staff.
• To be responsive and aware of the individual needs of children.
• To ensure all children are making progress to their full potential
• To understand and implement planning in the moment
• To carry out observations regularly and are of high quality and in-line with Acorn’s recommendations for planning in the moment
• To ensure all children are given the opportunity to be independent
• To ensure all children have the opportunity to be physically challenged
• To support with paperwork in relation to the child, for example care plans, all about me forms, medicine forms, transition forms and two-year progress check (where appropriate) etc
• To understand the key person approach and be an effective key person
• To cascade any information or updates to the management and your staff team
• To keep abreast and adhere with changes in accordance to Acorn’s policies and procedures
• To safeguard all children in our care

Expectations

• To have a good understanding of Acorn’s core values, ethos and policies and ensure these are reflected in practice
• A high-quality provision to support children’s learning across the curriculum
• To value parents as partners
• For all children to be happy, confident, self-assured and independent
• Effective communication with management, staff, children and parents
• To role model outstanding practice and positive behaviour management

At Acorn, we’re committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong and can thrive. We value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. As an inclusive employer, we’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process. You must have the right to work in the UK, be able to provide two satisfactory references, and, due to the nature of our sector, all roles are subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

Benefits

• Payscales that are competitive, transparent and reviewed annually
• 65% Childcare discount - Pro rata depending on 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

Vacancy Reference: WESTBANK