Early Years Nursery Practitioner

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Orpington; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust operates Bright Sparks Day Nursery + Pre-school at Orpington Hospital, providing childcare for the children of staff across all sites. The nursery opens from 7:00am to 6:30pm and serves children aged 3 months to 5 years.

We seek a qualified early years professional with excellent communication skills who enjoys working with children and families, and who has demonstrable experience as an enthusiastic, empathetic early years educator.

Responsibilities

• To participate in the day to day operation and organisation of the nursery, and to assist in ensuring the smooth running of the nursery setting in accordance with agreed policy and procedures and to promote a good parent staff relationship.
• Deliver full day care in accordance with the EYFS 2025 and support children's learning and development.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, support the key person system, and take an active role in planning, reviewing, and developing children's individual learning journeys.
• Monitor health and safety within the nursery, complete risk assessments, and maintain accurate records.

Job description

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

flexible-working

Job overview

Bright Sparks Day Nursery + Pre-school, operated by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at Orpington Hospital, provides childcare for the children of staff working at all sites of the Hospital. The nursery is open from 7:00am to 6:30pm and caters for children aged 3 months to 5 years.

We seek a qualified early years professional with excellent communication skills, who enjoys working with children and their families and who has demonstrable experience of being a dedicated, enthusiastic, empathetic and skilled early years educator.

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The post holder will be responsible to the Nursery Manager for delivering full day care in accordance with the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2025. You will also be accountable to the group supervisors for supporting children's learning and development through practices aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage.

You will be expected to work collaboratively with all colleagues, support the key person system and take an active role in planning, reviewing, and developing children's individual learning journeys.

The role also involves engaging in ongoing professional development and promoting best practices that enhance outcomes for children and families. Along with all who work at the nursery you will take proactive responsibility for monitoring health and safety within the nursery, ensuring compliance with policies and procedures, completing risk assessments, and maintaining accurate records.

If you are passionate about teaching early years and committed to creating a safe, stimulating, and nurturing environment for young children, we would love to hear from you

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To participate in the day to day operation and organisation of the nursery, and to assist in ensuring the smooth running of the nursery setting in accordance with agreed policy and procedures and to promote a good parent staff relationship.

IMPORTANT

• Check your email account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you
• If you delete the job from any of your accounts, you may be prevented from accessing further communications
• Please provide email addresses for referees where possible
• Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust’s criminal records checking policy
• All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
• Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can support you as you complete your application. For example, they can check for spelling or grammar errors, or help you to decide what to include. They shouldn’t however replace your own responses or be used to write the application for you.

Relying too much on AI can negatively impact your chances of success because automatically generated answers:

• might not be specific or relevant enough to address the criteria in the recruitment profile
• often seem generic and not personalised enough – an AI response won’t show your unique voice and perspective
• could misrepresent information about you, such as your qualifications, skills and experience

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reports and Other Corporate Publications

King's Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre Website

King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.