Best Start in Life Practitioner

Portsmouth City Council; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council is seeking a Best Start in Life Inclusion Practitioner to join the Best Start Family Hub network in Portsmouth. You will support babies, children aged 0-5, and families to access early, inclusive help when needs arise.

The role emphasizes needs-led advice, practical support, safeguarding, and collaboration with partner services to improve access and promote positive outcomes in communication, development and school readiness.

Qualifications

• Level 3 qualification (or equivalent experience) and experience of working with children aged 0-5 and their families.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding, inclusion, speech and language development, and early intervention.

Responsibilities

• Provide early, practical support and guidance to families.
• Help children access the Best Start offer through Family Hubs, community settings and partner services.
• Identify barriers to participation and promote inclusion for underserved families.
• Work in partnership with existing services to strengthen the inclusion offer across Early Years and community settings.

Skills

Communication skills

Relationship-building

Collaboration

Education

Level 3 qualification (or equivalent experience)

Job description

We are looking for Best Start in Life Inclusion Practitioners to join Portsmouth's Best Start Family Hub network. This is an exciting role supporting babies, young children aged 0-5, and their families to access early, practical and inclusive support when children may have emerging needs, developmental differences or additional needs.

The Role

The role is about providing support early, building trusted relationships with families, and helping children and families access the right help at the right time. The support offered will be needs-led rather than diagnosis-led, meaning families can receive advice, guidance and practical help without needing to wait for a diagnosis or meet a referral threshold.

You will help ensure children with emerging or additional needs can access the full Best Start offer through Family Hubs, community settings and partner services. This will include supporting inclusion, identifying barriers to participation, strengthening access for underserved families and helping children make progress towards positive early outcomes, including communication, development and school readiness.

The postholder will work in partnership with existing services and will complement the established inclusion offer across Early Years, Family Hubs and community settings.

The Ideal Candidate

You will have a Level 3 qualification (or equivalent experience) and experience of working with children aged 0-5 and their families, including those with emerging or additional needs. You will have a good understanding of child development, safeguarding, inclusion, speech and language development, and early intervention.

The role requires strong communication and relationship-building skills, the ability to provide practical support and guidance to families, and experience of working collaboratively with partner organisations. You will be organised, adaptable, and confident working both independently and within a multi-agency environment.

The successful candidate will be committed to family-centred, strengths-based practice, promoting inclusion, reducing inequalities, and supporting families from diverse communities in a respectful and culturally responsive way.

Please ensure that you read the full job profile attached below for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.

Working Arrangements

This role will be based in one of the city's family hubs, there is no hybrid working.

For informal enquiries, please contact

Claire Mason at [e-mail] .

Interview date

19th & 22nd October 2026

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

We strongly encourage candidates to add all Career and Education History to their application, as CVs are not reviewed as part of the shortlisting process.

As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the'Who is the Person'points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.

We are a disability confident employer and have an Armed Forces Covenant. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Safeguarding

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Standard/Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please read the relevant DBS privacy notice before submitting any information.

You will need to explain any gaps in your career history within the last 5 years - this is essential for all safeguarding roles.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact [e-mail] or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616 800.