Nursery Cook

Action for Children; Erith; Hybrid; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days leave + holidays

Staff discounts portal & blue light

Salary Finance

Childcare discount 60%

Dependency Leave (up to 3 days)

Parental leave

Professional qualifications

Pension with 7% employer contribution

Job summary

Action for Children through Spring Nurseries is seeking a part-time Nursery Cook in Erith. The role is permanent, 13 hours per week across two days as part of a job share, offering the chance to prepare nutritious meals for children with a good work-life balance.

Benefits include generous annual leave, childcare discounts, pension contributions, and support for professional development. The setting emphasizes wellbeing, training, and flexible working where possible.

Qualifications

• Catering/kitchen experience desirable.
• Level 3 Food Hygiene certificate preferred but can be gained in role.
• Passion for cooking and ideas to improve menus.
• Understanding of food safety and dietary needs.
• Reliable and flexible for job-share role.

Responsibilities

• Plan menus and prepare meals meeting dietary and cultural needs.
• Maintain high standards of food hygiene and safety.
• Manage stock: ordering, storage, rotation, and reduce waste.
• Keep kitchen, equipment and prep areas clean and well maintained.
• Manage the food budget and invoices with efficient resource use.

Skills

Catering experience

Food hygiene knowledge

Teamwork

Education

Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate

Job description

Job title: Nursery Cook
Salary: £27,135.22 (pro rata)
Location: Erith
Contract/Hours: Permanent/Part Time – 13 hours per week

Benefits:

• Time off to recharge – 25 days per annum plus bank holidays
• Treat yourself: Staff discounts portal and blue light card with 15,000 + retailers.
• Salary Finance – access to financial advice and the ability to manage savings or loans directly from your salary.
• Childcare Discount – A whopping 60% off childcare within our nurseries and out of school clubs
• Up to 3 Days Dependency Leave – to care for dependents in an emergency.
• Paid maternity, adoption, and paternity leave.
• Gain professional qualifications and excellent training/development opportunities.
• Secure your future: Pension with up to 7% employer contribution with included life assurance cover.

A bit about the role

As Nursery Cook, you'll prepare nutritious, balanced meals that help children get the best start to their day. This permanent, part-time role is 13 hours per week across two days as part of the job share, offering the opportunity to use your catering skills while enjoying a great work-life balance.

What you do could make a difference

You'll play an important part in the day-to-day running of the nursery, making sure the kitchen is organized, well managed and ready to meet the needs of the children and team.

You'll bring your catering skills to a role where attention to detail, good organization and high standards make a difference every day.

• Plan menus and prepare meals that meet children's dietary, cultural and individual needs.
• Maintain high standards of food hygiene, health and safety, in line with legislation and guidance.
• Manage stock, including ordering, storage, rotation and keeping waste to a minimum.
• Keep the kitchen, equipment and food preparation areas clean, safe and well maintained
• Manage the food budget, including expenditure and invoices while making effective use of resources.

Let’s talk about you

As Nursery Cook, you'll be confident working in a busy kitchen, able to follow menus and recipes and bring your own ideas to keep things interesting.

• Experience working in a catering or kitchen environment is desirable
• A Level 3 food hygiene certificate is preferred but can be gained in the role
• A passion for cooking, with the creativity to suggest new ideas and recipes for our menus
• An understanding of food safety and dietary requirements
• A reliable, flexible approach and the ability to work well as part of a job share

About Spring

Spring offers award-winning childcare services, as part of the national charity Action for Children. It's our mission to be the best provider of outstanding quality early education to children throughout the UK, that is accessible to all. We are focused on enabling young people to learn, have fun and make friends in our bright, engaging settings. That starts with creating a happy environment for our team. Join us and you can look forward to:

• A kind, caring culture with an emphasis on wellbeing, both physical and mental.
• Flexible working – wherever possible we offer flexibility on hours and/or hybrid working.
• Lots of opportunities for training, learning, development, including gaining qualifications.
• Excellent benefits that compare favourably to other employers in our sector.

About the Service

Northumberland Heath Is a family-focused nursery providing full-day care for children aged six weeks to five years, with a passionate team dedicated to giving every child the best start.

Our Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

At Spring Nurseries we are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued, and able to thrive. We know that racism and discrimination create barriers, and we are taking active steps to challenge these inequalities in our organisation and in the communities we serve.

We strongly welcome applications from people who are Black, Asian, or from other racialised and ethnically marginalised communities, as well as disabled people, who are currently under-represented in our workforce. We are committed to removing barriers in our recruitment processes and ensuring fair access to opportunities.

We also encourage applications from men, who are under-represented in our Children’s Services roles. We recognise that people hold multiple identities, and we value the richness this brings to our team.

Whether this is a career change for you or the next step in your journey, we'd love to hear from you.

We work together to reach our mission to give children a healthy start in life.