Family Centres Practitioner

Milton Keynes City Council; Milton Keynes, Bletchley, Ilkeston; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday entitlement and public holiday

Excellent pension scheme

Family friendly policies

Employee benefits programme

Salary sacrifice car scheme

Blue Light Card

Job summary

Milton Keynes City Council is recruiting a Family Centres Practitioner to help ensure children get the very best start in life. The role focuses on engaging families in communities, delivering Stay and Play, and guiding parents of children under five. Site-based with flexible home-based elements, interviews on 10 October 2026.

You'll work within Best Start for Life Family Hubs, building trusted relationships, promoting services and supporting children’s development and readiness for school.

Qualifications

• Recognised early education or childcare qualification is essential.
• Strong knowledge of child development and early years learning.
• Excellent communication with parents, carers and partners.
• Experience with children under five and their families.
• Ability to manage a busy workload and maintain high standards.
• Good safeguarding understanding and responsibilities.
• Competent using Microsoft Office and digital systems to keep records.

Responsibilities

• Promote and deliver activities supporting Early Years Foundation Stage and school readiness.
• Plan and deliver Stay and Play sessions for children and families.
• Provide one-to-one support and guidance to parents of under-fives.
• Deliver outreach to engage families who may struggle to access services.
• Build relationships with communities, volunteers and partner organisations.
• Collaborate with education, health and early help services to support outcomes.
• Complete assessments, contribute to support plans and maintain records.

Skills

Child development

Communication

Community engagement

Record keeping

Safeguarding

Education

Early education qualification

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Job Introduction

We're recruiting a Family Centres Practitioner to join our Children and Families service and help ensure children get the very best start in life.

At Milton Keynes City Council, our aim is to make our city a better place to live. Every day, our colleagues work with local people, partners and communities to support children and families and reduce inequalities across our city. Our values are simple: we are Dedicated, Respectful and Collaborative.

As part of Best Start for Life Family Hubs, we have clear objectives to meet in order to secure all elements of the grant funding that supports this work. One of these objectives is to provide dedicated outreach support to engage children and families living in the expansion areas of Whitehouse, Newton Leys, Glebe Farm and Eagles Rest.

This rewarding role is focused on building relationships with families who may not currently access Family Centre services. You'll help families understand the support available to them, provide a welcoming and positive introduction to services, and encourage participation in activities that improve outcomes for children.

You'll spend time engaging directly with families in their communities, supporting those who may be harder to reach and helping them access local services, information and opportunities. Through positive and meaningful engagement, you'll help children and families feel confident about attending sessions and accessing support, even where a Family Centre is not located nearby.

You'll also play an important role in delivering activities that support children's development and school readiness, while working with parents to strengthen their confidence and understanding of their child's learning and development.

This is a Fixed Term position - 30 months

Site-Based role

This is a Site-Based role, and you'll be expected to work from the designated workplace.

Interviews for this role will be held on 10th October 2026

At Milton Keynes City Council, we aim to make a difference every day. We're dedicated, respectful and collaborative. We act as one council, and we work hard to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive.

Find out more about working with us here: www.mkcounciljobs.org.uk

Main Responsibility

• Promote and deliver a range of activities that support the Early Years Foundation Stage and help children become ready for school.
• Plan and deliver Stay and Play sessions for children and families.
• Provide one-to-one support, advice and guidance to parents of children under five years old.
• Deliver outreach activities that engage families who may find it difficult to access services.
• Build strong relationships with local communities, volunteers and partner organisations to increase community involvement in Family Centre services.
• Work with professionals across education, health and early help services to support positive outcomes for children and families.
• Complete assessments, contribute to support plans and maintain accurate records where required.

The Ideal Candidate

• A recognised early education or childcare qualification is essential.
• With strong knowledge of child development and early years learning, you'll be confident supporting children and families to achieve positive outcomes.
• You enjoy building trusted relationships with parents, carers and community partners and can communicate clearly with a wide range of people.
• Experience of working with children under five years old and their families will help you quickly make a positive impact within the service.
• Comfortable managing a busy and varied workload, you can organise your time effectively while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
• Practical understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and the impact safeguarding concerns can have on children's wellbeing and development.
• Confident using Microsoft Office and digital systems to maintain accurate records and share information appropriately.
• A team player who demonstrates our values of being Dedicated, Respectful and Collaborative in everything you do.

Safer Recruitment

Safer Recruitment applies to this role. This means that, before any appointment is confirmed, we'll carry out a range of pre-employment checks to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults. These checks may include identity verification, where candidates will be required to provide original identification documents, including a full birth certificate, employment history and reference checks, qualification checks and an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (unless you are currently registered with the DBS Update Service). Check where required.

Package Description

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
• Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support.
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
• Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can lease an electric or low-emission vehicle at a reduced cost through salary sacrifice, subject to National Minimum Wage and other eligibility requirements.
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes

Roles are either 'site based' or 'home based'.

Site based roles are mainly based at the workplace, with the option to work from home for up to two days a week, depending on service needs.

Home based roles are mainly based at home, with the expectation of attending the workplace up to one day a week.

The working arrangement for each role is set by the manager, based on service requirements.

About The Organisation

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.

We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.

We're very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it's time for a new role.

If you'd like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council, see attached.