Early Years Assistant

Early Years Alliance; Aylesham; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 24,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% discount on childcare

Extensive training & progression

LMS access

Pension scheme

25 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays

Birthday leave

Enhanced sickness pay

Bereavement leave

Referral bonus up to £300

Job summary

Sunshine Corner Nursery in Canterbury is recruiting an Early Years Assistant to provide quality, inclusive early years education and care. No formal qualification is required initially, but we will support you to obtain a recognised childcare qualification.

We are a friendly, inclusive setting within the Early Years Alliance family, offering extensive benefits, training, progression opportunities, generous holiday entitlement and wellbeing support.

Qualifications

• Previous experience with young children, a friendly, flexible approach.
• Willingness to undertake training leading to or working towards a recognised childcare qualification.
• You will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check, if your current certificate is not subscribed to the update service

Responsibilities

• Provide creative and engaging learning opportunities for children.
• Be a proactive member of the team, providing a safe, stimulating, and inclusive environment.
• To support the Nursery Management team in delivering high quality care following policies and procedures

Skills

Experience with young children

Flexible approach

Willingness to train

Education

Willingness to obtain childcare qualification

Job description

We have a fantastic opportunity for an Early Years Assistant to join our team at Sunshine Corner Nursery in Canterbury. We are looking for an Early Years Assistant who will offer our children high quality inclusive early years education and care.

We take great pride in being a friendly, inclusive setting that puts children and their families at the heart of our practice and provide excellent promotion and progression opportunities for our staff team.

As an Early Years Assistant, you do not need to be qualified, however we will encourage and support you to obtain your early years qualification.

Working in the early years really is one of the best decisions you will ever make, and we cannot wait to be part of your career journey!

What We Offer

We are proud to be part of the Early Years Alliance family of early years settings. Founded over 60 years ago, the Alliance is an educational charity dedicated to supporting the delivery of quality early years education and care to children and families.

The Alliance prides itself on being a supportive workplace and offers significant benefits for our team members including:

• 100% discount on childcare and early education places (applicable to staff working in our early years settings)
• Extensive training and career progression planning, including access to our Learning Management System (LMS)
• The Alliance has invested in FAMLY reducing paperwork and giving you more time to focus on the children.
• A generous workplace pension scheme
• 25 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays, with additional annual leave for long service.
• Birthday leave so you can have a day off for your birthday dedicated to you and your well being
• Enhanced sickness pay and paid bereavement leave
• A Recruitment Referral Payment Scheme, giving you an introductory payment of up to £300 if someone you have referred to the Alliance takes up a role in the charity.
• Access to our Employee Assistant Programme (EAP), which includes 24/7 helpline access, dedicated managers helpline, confidential counselling sessions delivered by accredited specialists, legal, debt and life management advice, discounts, and wellbeing content plus resources.
• A dedicated mental health First aider to support your mental well being

Job Purpose

As the Early Years Assistant, you will:

• provide creative and engaging learning opportunities for children.
• be a proactive member of the team, providing a safe, stimulating, and inclusive environment
• To support the Nursery Management team in delivering high quality care following policies and procedures.

Requirements

• Previous experience with young children, a friendly, flexible approach.
• Willingness to undertake training leading to or working towards a recognised childcare qualification.
• You will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check, if your current certificate is not subscribed to the update service

For the full of duties and the requirements, please download the job description which accompanies this advert.

( Fixed Term contract from Oct 2026 to July 2027 - Maternity Cover )

Hours per week: 40

Weeks per year: 52

Interview date: Wednesday 26th August 2026

Notes/Brief For HR Recruitment

About The Service

The Alliance is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and equal opportunities in employment. It is a requirement of all staff that they share this commitment and follow the prescribed policy and procedures to continuously promote a culture of safeguarding and equal opportunities across the whole organisation.

If you would like to find out more about our setting, please go to Web Link to Setting: https://nursery.eyalliance.org.uk/nursery/sunshine-corner-nursery/