Level 3 Qualified Nursery Practitioner

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust; Southampton; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Part time

Job summary

An NHS trust in the UK is seeking Level 3 Qualified Nursery Practitioners to join their team at Taplins Day Nursery. The role involves ensuring a safe and nurturing environment for children aged 3 months to 5 years, providing educational activities in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage. Suitable candidates will have a Level 3 Early Years Qualification and experience in childcare. The position offers flexible hours and generous benefits, including holiday allowances.

Benefits

Generous holiday allowance

Access to a staff discount scheme

NHS additional benefits

Qualifications

• Good standard of secondary education with literacy and numeracy skills demonstrable to GCSE or equivalent.
• Recent experience working with children aged 3 months to 5 years in a childcare setting.
• Willingness to undertake Food Safety training.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for children's care, ensuring a safe and stimulating environment.
• Plan and carry out educational activities according to the Early Years Foundation Stage.
• Maintain records of children's development and liaise with parents.

Skills

Compassionate and caring attitude

Ability to engage children in fun activities

Strong communication skills

Education

Level 3 Early Years Qualification

Current paediatric first aid certificate

Current food hygiene certificate

Job description

Go back University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust

Level 3 Qualified Nursery Practitioner

The closing date is 04 January 2026

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please see below for detailed job description of the role.

Main duties of the job

Are you a compassionate and caring individual looking to develop your career as a Qualified Early Years Practitioner in a fun, supportive, and nurturing environment?

We are currently looking for part-time and full-time enthusiastic Level 3 Qualified Early Years Nursery Practitioners to register their interest to join our friendly team at our Taplins Day Nursery (Southampton General Hospital) or Trust Taplins Nursery (Western Community Hospital).

Taplins operates two modern, purpose-built day nurseries dedicated to supporting our local NHS staff. As part of the UHS family, you'll benefit from a generous holiday allowance, access to a staff discount scheme, and a range of additional NHS benefits.

Our nurseries are open Monday to Friday, 7:00am - 6:30pm, and are closed on bank holidays. Full-time roles typically offer the flexibility of working hours across a 4-day week.

Register your interest today if you're passionate about early years care and have the experience that we are looking for. If you meet the essential criteria outlined in the attached person specification, we will be in contact to discus your application further and our upcoming vacancies.

About us

University Hospital Southampton is one of England's largest acute teaching Trusts, offering a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support your career aspirations.

Located on the south coast with an international airport and direct rail links to London, Southampton offers an ideal setting to live and work, with the New Forest, South Downs and Jurassic Coast.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalizing your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

At UHS we're committed to providing a flexible working environment where possible. Whether you are balancing family, study, or your wellbeing with your career, we want to support you so you can help our patients.

At UHS, we proudly champion individuality, recognizing that outstanding care is only possible with a diverse, inclusive team. We're committed to creating an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory environment where everyone feels valued, safe, and empowered to make a meaningful impact in our communities. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to join us in building a healthcare community where everyone can belong, thrive, and contribute.

Job responsibilities

We offer childcare from 3 months to 5 years in our bright and airy nurseries. The nurseries have dedicated craft and messy play area and access to large and secure outside spaces- so lots of opportunities for adventure for our children!

We also have cosy sleeping areas for when they need to rest. You will be looking after a group of children and ensuring that all their needs are met during the day and that they have fun and engaging activities planned.

General Duties

• To be fully responsible for the children in your care, providing a consistently safe, secure, and stimulating environment.
• To provide a wide range of enjoyable, stimulating, and educational activities for a group of children, covering all aspects of the child's individual development by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
• To be a key person (if allocated a group by the Nursery Manager) building a strong attachment and knowing your key children well as individuals.
• To maintain required records of childrens development, learning and activities.
• To work alongside the nursery SENDco to support children with additional needs ensuring that their development is promoted as fully as possible.
• Ensure that all policies and procedures are adhered to and if there are any concerns, problems or issues these are escalated appropriately to the Duty Manager and/or the management team.
• Promoting a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene standards through monitoring and supervising nappy changing/toilet and washing procedures, regular cleaning of toys and equipment, the cleaning of childrens crockery and bedding.
• Assist in the preparation and serving of food and supervision of meal times.
• To exercise a duty of care for work colleagues and to be responsible for ensuring a safe working environment for all children, staff and visitors.
• You will plan and carry out a variety of fun activities with the children in line with the Early Years curriculum.
• You are also responsible for evaluating the activities, and for maintaining online learning journals via Tapesty.

To understand the role in more detail please read the full job description and person specification documents.

Safeguarding

Taplins Nurseries and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

All roles are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks, including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and verification of qualifications and references.

The successful candidate will have specific safeguarding responsibilities, as outlined in the job description and person specification.

Person Specification

Trust Values

• Always Improving
• Working Together

Qualifications, knowledge and experience

• Good standard of secondary education with literacy and numeracy skills demonstrable to GCSE pass level or equivalent standard
• Willingness and ability to undertake Food Safety training
• Recent previous experiences of working with 3 months - 5-year-olds within a childcare setting
• To hold a full and relevant Level 3 Early Years Qualification (in accordance with https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-qualifications-finder) or above. If level 3 qualified post June 2016, to also hold a full paediatric first aid (PFA) or an emergency PFA certificate
• Current paediatric and/or first aid at work certificate if qualified pre- June 2016, or if candidate holds a qualification higher than level 3
• Current food hygiene certificate

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust