Lead Early Years Practitioner

YMCA; Southampton; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free childcare for hours worked

50% discount on additional days

One free week YMCA Day Camps

30 days total leave with rise to 30

Health and wellbeing benefits

Family leave provisions

Cycle to Work / discounts

Job summary

YMCA Fairthorne Group is seeking a Lead Early Years Practitioner to join the nursery leadership. You will help strengthen practice across the setting, observe children, coach staff and ensure early identification of additional needs. This role is primarily supernumerary with direct time with children and a focus on inclusion.

You may deputise for the Nursery Manager and contribute to safeguarding, health and safety, and nursery improvement priorities across rooms and outdoor spaces.

Qualifications

• Ideally holds a Level 5 Early Years or Childcare qualification.

Responsibilities

• Lead practice across the nursery and support children with additional needs.

Skills

Early Years experience

Coaching colleagues

Observation and assessment

Behaviour support

Inclusion and SEND knowledge

Communication with families

Safeguarding awareness

Education

Level 5 Early Years or Childcare qualification

Level 3 Early Years practitioner background

Tools

Paediatric First Aid

Designated Safeguarding Lead training

Job description

Lead great practice. Make a difference for every child.

Some Early Years roles are about your own room.

This one is about the whole nursery.

As a Lead Early Years Practitioner at the YMCA Fairthorne Group, you’ll be part of the nursery leadership team, helping to strengthen practice across the setting whilst supporting children who may need something extra to thrive.

This is a primarily supernumerary role, giving you the space to work alongside practitioners, observe children, coach colleagues and help make sure additional needs are identified and supported well.

As an Lead Early Years Practitioner

You’ll still spend meaningful time with children.

You’ll just have the opportunity to influence far more than your own key group.

A role with wider impact

You’ll work across the nursery, supporting children, practitioners and leaders.

A big part of your role will be helping us make sure that children with additional needs, vulnerabilities or emerging concerns are noticed early and supported consistently.

You’ll:

• work alongside practitioners across the setting

• observe children and help identify where additional support may be needed

• support key persons to develop appropriate support plans

• help coordinate referrals and next steps where specialist support is required

• coach practitioners and model strong Early Years practice

• support colleagues to build confidence in SEND, behaviour and inclusion

• contribute to nursery improvement priorities

• help embed high standards of care and practice across rooms

• support safeguarding and safe Early Years practice

• deputise for the Nursery Manager when required

• spend time directly with children in rooms and outdoor spaces.

This isn’t leadership from a distance.

You’ll be in the nursery, alongside the people and children you’re supporting.

Helping every child belong - Children don’t all develop in the same way or at the same pace.

Some need additional support with communication., some with behaviour or emotional regulation, some may have an identified SEND need and others may simply be experiencing something in their lives that means they need more support for a period of time.

Your role is to help us notice.

To ask the right questions.

To work with practitioners and families.

And to make sure the support around the child is thoughtful, consistent and appropriate.

The aim isn’t to define children by what they find difficult.

It’s to understand what they need so they can participate, grow in confidence and feel that they belong.

Developing great practitioners

A big part of this role is helping other people become even better at what they do.

You’ll observe practice, share ideas, model approaches and coach colleagues.

Sometimes that means helping somebody recognise something they’re already doing brilliantly.

Sometimes it means supporting them to try something differently.

And sometimes it means having a constructive conversation when practice needs to improve.

We’re looking for someone who can challenge positively, build confidence and bring people with them.

Because better practice for practitioners means better experiences for children.

A different kind of Early Years setting

Fairthorne Nursery is a place where children have space to move, to explore, and to grow at their own pace.

Set within a 90 acre natural site, our nursery is surrounded by woodland, fields, rivers, streams, and open space. Being outdoors is not an occasional activity here, it is part of everyday learning, in every season. Children are encouraged to explore freely, follow their curiosity, and learn through real experiences in nature.

When families walk into Fairthorne, they often notice how fun, open, and expansive it feels. There is room for adventure and room for calm, with a rhythm to the day that allows children to settle into their own way of being.

Part of something bigger

Fairthorne Manor Nursery is part of the YMCA Fairthorne Group, supporting children, young people and families across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Our nurseries are one part of that story.

Across the YMCA Fairthorne Group, we help children and young people build confidence, experience new things, develop independence and find somewhere they belong.

As Lead Practitioner, your impact can ripple much further than one child or one room.

The practitioner you coach.

The child whose needs are recognised earlier.

The family who feels listened to.

The improvement that becomes everyday practice.

Those things matter.

And they’re part of our wider ambition to help people:

BELONG CONTRIBUTE THRIVE

Safeguarding

YMCA Fairthorne Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Successful applicants will be required to complete appropriate safer recruitment and pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced Disclosure through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

YMCA Fairthorne Group is committed to creating an inclusive organisation where everyone is treated fairly, with dignity and respect.

We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

The person we’re looking for

Ideally, you’ll hold a Level 5 Early Years or Childcare qualification.

We’re also happy to consider experienced Level 3 practitioners who have the right background and are willing to continue developing.

You’ll need experience of:

• working in an Early Years setting

• supporting improvements in practice

• modelling good practice and coaching colleagues

• understanding child development

• supporting behaviour and additional needs

• working with children who may be vulnerable or need additional support.

You’ll also need a good understanding of safeguarding and health and safety.

Paediatric First Aid and Designated Safeguarding Lead training would be valuable, but we can support the right person to complete these where needed.

More importantly, we’re looking for somebody who is:

• confident without needing to dominate

• warm and approachable

• observant

• calm under pressure

• comfortable giving constructive feedback

• able to build trust with practitioners and families

• curious about why things happen, not just what happened

• passionate about inclusion

• motivated by seeing other people develop

• committed to improving experiences for children

Up to £35,047 per annum (Dependent on experience)

Benefits that make a difference

• Enjoy free childcare for the hours you work, with 50% discount on any additional days required

• Extra support during the school holidays- One free week of YMCA Fairthorne Group Day Camps for each of your children every year, plus 50% off a second week.

• More time away from work- 25 days’ annual leave plus Bank Holidays, increasing with service up to 30 days, with the option to buy up to 10 additional days.

• Celebration Leave- An additional day to celebrate something that matters to you.

• Health and wellbeing- Access to our Health Cash Plan and Employee Assistance Programme.

• Family support- Enhanced family leave provisions.

• Everyday benefits - Blue Light Card eligibility, Cycle to Work scheme and discounts on activities, camping and experiences at YMCA Fairthorne Manor.

• Career development- Access to professional learning and development, with opportunities to build specialist knowledge in areas such as SEND, safeguarding and Forest School, as well as progressing into wider leadership roles across YMCA Fairthorne Group.