Nursery Assistant

Acorn Early Years Foundation; Bedford; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 21,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Payscales that are competitive,透明

65% Childcare discount - Pro Rata

Generous family leave

25 days annual leave, plus bank hols

4 training days and development plans

Enhanced pension scheme

Cyclescheme

Techscheme

Length of Service awards

Summer and Christmas parties

Pay advances

Employee assistance wellbeing

Job summary

Acorn Early Years Foundation is seeking a Nursery Assistant for their Sharnbrook Nursery, a vibrant, child-centered setting open 7.15am–6.15pm, Monday to Friday. You will join a warm team to support holistic early years learning and daily routines in a nurturing atmosphere.

The role emphasizes safeguarding, strong teamwork, and a commitment to developing young children's early skills through play, forest school activities, and parent partnerships. Training is provided.

Qualifications

• No formal qualification required; training and development will be provided.
• Commitment to safeguarding and child welfare.
• Willingness to work in a full-time role, Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Support children’s care, wellbeing and individual needs.
• Deliver positive, high-quality interactions based on development stages.
• Promote positive behaviour in line with Acorn’s policies and procedures.
• Support rich learning experiences indoors and outdoors.
• Encourage children’s independence, confidence and physical development.
• Assist with planning in the moment and observations.
• Maintain records such as care plans and progress reviews where appropriate.
• Understand and support the key person approach.
• Work flexibly as part of a team and cascade information to colleagues.

Skills

Caring

Enthusiastic

Reliable

Communication

Parental partnership

Job description

Nursery Assistant

Full-time - Monday - Friday
Sharnbrook Nursery

We are looking for a Nursery Assistant to join our dedicated team at Sharnbrook Nursery. This is a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about working with children and supporting high-quality early years care in a nurturing, child‑centred environment.

This is a full time position, 40 hours per week.

About Sharnbrook

Located within the picturesque grounds of Colworth Science Park in Sharnbrook, our nursery has ample space for children to explore, discover and investigate their local surroundings, which lends itself to providing opportunities such as tree climbing and large open spaces for the children to explore. The play space within the nursery offers a light, large area with a wide range of natural resources to allow children to learn through first hand experiences. Children have opportunity to free flow between the inside and outside throughout the day, with a variety of activities and resources available to extend individual children’s learning.

We offer full and part-time care for up to 65 children from the age of four months to four years, and are open from 7.15am to 6.15pm, Monday to Friday, all year round.

We strive to make our nursery a place where positive and close relationships with children and parents are welcomed and valued. We believe it is important to create a home from home experience where children feel happy, safe and secure, and as a result, thrive within our nursery. Aimee and her team work closely with parents and carers to develop children’s interests and skills, ensuring each of them reaches their full potential. A variety of imaginative and creative play activities, including forest schools, will ensure children have plenty of opportunities to play and learn in a warm and happy environment.

The nursery has also achieved their Eco-Schools Green Flag award which is an international accreditation that recognises young people's environmental actions! Alongside this, Sharnbrook was awarded an additional Eco-Schools award as 'Water School of the Year'.

About the Role

As a Nursery Assistant, you will support a holistic approach to the curriculum, helping to ensure the wellbeing, development and learning of all children in your care. You will work as part of a team to support the smooth day‑to‑day running of the nursery.

Key Responsibilities

• Support children’s care, wellbeing and individual needs
• Deliver positive, high-quality interactions based on children’s stages of development
• Promote positive behaviour in line with Acorn’s policies and procedures
• Support rich learning experiences indoors and outdoors
• Encourage children’s independence, confidence and physical development
• Support planning in the moment
• Carry out regular observations in line with Acorn guidance
• Assist with maintaining records such as care plans, “All About Me” forms, medication forms and progress reviews (where appropriate)
• Understand and support the key person approach
• Work flexibly as part of a team, adapting responsibilities as required
• Cascade relevant information to colleagues and management
• Safeguard all children at all times

What We’re Looking For

We welcome applications from candidates who:

• Share Acorn’s values and ethos
• Have an interest in early years and child development
• Are caring, enthusiastic and reliable
• Value parents as partners
• Communicate effectively with children, families and colleagues
• Are keen to learn, develop and progress within early years

(No formal qualification is required for this role, as training and development will be supported.)

Equality, Diversity & Safer Recruitment

At Acorn, we are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong. We value diversity and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Reasonable adjustments will be considered during the recruitment process.

Successful applicants must:

• Have the right to work in the UK
• Provide two satisfactory references
• Complete an Enhanced DBS check prior to commencing employment

Benefits

As a thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to making Acorn a safe, nurturing and fun place for our children to be, we offer:

• Payscales that are competitive, transparent and reviewed annually
• 65% Childcare discount - Pro Rata according to contracted hours
• Generous family leave
• Christmas closure
• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays (and the option to buy more)
• 4 dedicated training days and individual development plans
• Enhanced pension scheme
• Cyclescheme
• Techscheme
• Length of Service awards
• Summer and Christmas parties
• Pay advances
• Employee assistance wellbeing programme