Best Start Inclusion Practitioner

Bolton Council; Bolton; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Pension scheme

Annual leave

Job summary

Bolton Council is seeking a proactive Best Start Inclusion Practitioner to support the Best Start Family Hubs across Bolton. The role focuses on inclusive practice, early intervention, and delivering universal development checks at 18 months.

You will work across eight hubs with home visits and travel between locations, ensuring joined-up support for children, young people and families under the Best Start in Life Strategy.

Qualifications

• Full driving licence is essential.
• DBS clearance is essential.
• Relevant Level 3 qualification (e.g., NNEB, NVQ3, BTEC, Early Years, Childcare).
• Interview date: 15 and 16 October 2026.

Responsibilities

• Deliver universal development checks at 18 months for Bolton children.
• Provide inclusive support and activities for all families in hubs and communities.
• Travel between eight Best Start Family Hubs and home visits as required.
• Work within partnership/multi-agency environment to improve outcomes.

Skills

Strong communication

Family needs understanding

Independent working

Education

Level 3 childcare

Job description

Grade scp 17 £32,046 to scp 23 £35,570, essential car user allowance up to £963pa
Contract: permanent x9
Hours: 37 per week, Part time will be considered in line with service requirements
Essential requirement: full driving licence, DBS
Essential qualification: Relevant level 3 qualification e.g., NNEB, NVQ3, BTEC, Early Years, Childcare
Interview date: 15 and 16th October 2026
For further information about this role, contact: [e-mail]

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

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The Role

Hours will be worked between 8am and 6pm, occasional evening and Saturday working

Join us at Bolton Best Start Family Hubs and become part of an ambitious, creative team leading innovation for children and families across our eight Best Start Family Hubs. Guided by the Best Start in Life Strategy, we’re transforming how services connect and collaborate to make a real difference to local families. With a model that blends vibrant hub activity and strong community-based work, this is a fantastic opportunity to be part of new approaches, strengthen partnerships and contribute to a bold vision that puts families at the centre of everything we do.

We are seeking enthusiastic and dynamic Best Start Inclusion Practitioners to support the Best Start Family Hub’s inclusion offer for families. This role requires strong communication, a good understanding of family needs and services, and a proactive approach to ensure Bolton’s Best Start Family Hubs provide joined-up support for children, young people and families. You will offer inclusive support and activities that are accessible to all families, both within the hubs and within local communities. You will work effectively with colleagues and partners to ensure the inclusion offer, including evidence-based interventions, is implemented effectively across the service, to best support families at an early intervention and prevention level.

You will deliver the universal development check for every child across Bolton at 18-months old and consequent provision of support, playing a key role in the early identification of need and supporting families.

This post is office based across the eight Best Start Family Hubs, with regular home visits to families. An essential car user allowance is payable as boroughwide travel is required between different Hubs, to homes and to other community-based locations

About You

As a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner, you will have experience working within partnership and multi-agency environments. Your knowledge of child development, alongside your commitment to inclusion and ability to build trusting relationships, will support children and families to access the right support at the right time. Working closely with families, colleagues and partner agencies, you will help promote inclusive practice and improve outcomes for children and families.
You will have experience of working directly with families and possess extensive knowledge of child development. You will understand the importance of supporting families to create strong home learning environments. You will be a clear communicator as well as being approachable and confident about working independently. Your enthusiasm for early intervention will make you a valuable asset to this team of Best Start Inclusion Practitioners.
You will value being part of a team and working together, and with colleagues from across the Best Start Partnership to encourage families to access services that will support their needs at the earliest point.
Highly proactive and organised, you will manage your own workload with confidence, prioritising effectively while maintaining high standards of support for families. You will thrive in a dynamic and varied role that directly strengthens outcomes for children and families across Bolton's Best Start Family Hubs.

About Us
This is your opportunity to join us at an exciting time as we have strong ambitions for the borough.

Bolton is a great place to work. We are a welcoming organisation that wants to contribute to a place where people feel active, connected and prosperous. We are passionate about improving the outcomes and experience of Bolton people. We want Bolton to be a vibrant place built on strong cohesive communities, successful businesses and healthy, engaged residents.

As an employer we want to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment, by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits, including discounts and exclusive gym membership prices and salary sacrifice schemes. In addition, we offer a generous annual leave allowance, flexible work opportunities, access to a Pension Scheme, as well as a range of employee wellbeing and support services.

Our Values are really important to us, read all about them below, along with all our great staff benefits, the job description/person specification for the role and the important legal bits, and our Top Tips too.

Within Greater Manchester, local authorities have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel. Please see greater.jobs for further information before you apply.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance - this post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (amended in 2013). Employment offers are conditional subject to satisfactory clearances. For roles where a criminal records check from the DBS is required, this includes satisfactory clearance of this check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily bar an individual from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of an individual’s offence/s. Information provided by you or the DBS will be dealt with in a confidential manner and in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice which can be viewed here. Bolton Council’s policy on the Employment of Ex-Offenders is available here.

This post is a designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of spoken English as per the person specification.

This organisation has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. That means we will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester local authority or NHS organisation that has signed the commitment, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority, giving you access to our service-related benefits. Please see the home page of greater.jobs for more information.

For more information about working for Bolton Council, please see greater.jobs; for advice and support with your application, contact [e-mail]

Supporting Documents

job description and person spec
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Staff Benefits
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