Nursery Manager

YMCA Fairthorne Group; Newport; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 49,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% off childcare - YMCA employees

25 days annual leave + Bank Holidays

Health and wellbeing - Health CashPlan

Cycle to Work

Job summary

The YMCA Fairthorne Group is seeking a Nursery Manager for the Newport Nursery to lead and shape the early years experience. You will oversee daily operations, staff development, safeguarding, and budget management while ensuring high-quality, child-centered activities in a welcoming environment.

You’ll work on fostering family trust, a positive culture, and exceptional care, with a focus on developmentally appropriate play and outdoor learning. This role is based at St Mary's Hospital, Newport.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years Leadership experience in an early years setting.
• Evidence of achieving high quality care beyond EYFS requirements.
• Level 4 Safeguarding qualification or willingness to work towards.

Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for the day-to-day management and smooth running of the nursery.
• Lead, inspire and develop the nursery team, creating a positive and inclusive culture.
• Champion high quality, early years practice and ensure engaging, developmentally appropriate experiences.
• Build positive relationships with children, families and colleagues as a visible leader.
• Manage the nursery as a business, including budgeting and occupancy targets.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring/Coaching

Budgeting

Communication

Education

Level 6 Early Years or Childcare qualification

Level 5 equivalent with willingness to continue developing

Tools

Word

Excel

Outlook

Job description

Lead with purpose, Inspire your team, Give every child the best start

Some Early Years roles are about what happens in one room.

This one goes beyond the individual room - it helps shape the experience of every child whilst leading your team to create a culture, quality and experience that defines the whole nursery.

As a Nursery Manager at YMCA Fairthorne Group, you'll be a pivotal part of the Nursery leadership team helping to nurture an inspiring environment that will create a brighter tomorrow for all. You will support with creating an exceptional experience for every child whilst ensuring families feel confident and supported.

A role with wider impact

You’ll work across the nursery providing inspirational leadership to your team whilst creating a positive culture where everyone feels valued, supported and motivated to deliver their best.

A big part of your role will be helping us to provide secure, stimulating and nurturing spaces where children can develop and grow empowering them to learn and thrive.

You’ll:

• take overall responsibility for the day-to-day management and smooth running of the nursery
• lead, inspire and develop the nursery team, creating a positive and inclusive culture where colleagues feel supported and empowered
• champion high quality, early years practice and ensure children receive engaging, stimulating and developmentally appropriate experiences
• build positive and trusting relationships with children, families and colleagues, acting as a visible and approachable leader within the nursery
• maintain an exciting and inspirational child-led, play-based environment utilising the outdoors as much as possible
• manage, recruit, train, support and inspire an outstanding staff team able to meet the needs of all the children in our care
• manage the nursery as a business, contributing to the writing and monitoring of an annual budget and implementing marketing and sales plans to achieve income and occupancy targets
• follow the YMCA Fairthorne Group's pedagogy and curriculum, using systems to monitor children's progress, share information with parents and plan activities to support each child's development
• lead on safeguarding, health and safety and child protection, ensuring all policies and procedures are understood and consistently followed
• oversee staffing, rotas, and resources to ensure the nursery operates effectively and meets the needs of our children and their families
• use observations, feedback, data and quality assurance processes to identify opportunities for improvement and drive positive change
• lead the nursery in maintaining the highest standards or regulatory and legislative requirements, including Ofsted, Environmental Health and Safety standards, with a commitment to achieving an 'outstanding' Ofsted rating

This isn’t leadership from a distance

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

Developing a great Early Years Team

A big part of being a great Nursery Manager is creating a team where people feel supported to grow, develop and be their best.

You’ll lead by example, observe practice, share ideas, model high standards and create opportunities for your team to learn and develop.

Sometimes that means recognising something a team member is already doing brilliantly and helping them build on it.

Sometimes it means encouraging someone to try a different approach or giving them the confidence to step outside their comfort zone.

And sometimes it means having an honest, constructive conversation when practice needs to improve.

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

When your team feel supported to grow, children benefit from better experiences, stronger relationships and higher quality care and learning.

The person we’re looking for

Ideally, you’ll hold a Level 6 Early Years or Childcare qualification, however, we’re also happy to consider experienced Level 5 candidates who have the right background and are willing to continue developing

You’ll need to have:

• a minimum of 3 years Leadership experience in an early years setting
• evidence of achieving high quality care, over and above the standard required by EYFS
• a level 4 Safeguarding qualification or willingness to work towards
• experience of working to budgets
• a good working knowledge of IT programmes such as Word, Excel and Outlook (training will be given on nursery software)
• a first aid qualification or willingness to train
• experience in mentoring and coaching staff and students

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

• confident in leading a team
• warm and approachable
• observant
• calm under pressure
• comfortable giving constructive feedback
• able to build trust with their team and the families we support
• curious about why things happen, not just what happened
• passionate about inclusion
• motivated by seeing other people develop
• committed to improving experiences for children

A different kind of Early Years setting

The Newport Nursery is a welcoming setting where children are supported to explore, grow in confidence, and enjoy a strong start to early learning. Based at St Mary's Hospital, the nursery offers a calm and convenient location for families across the island and is especially well placed for hospital staff.

Children benefit from fresh meals, outdoor play, and a strong school readiness focus, while breakout spaces and quieter areas help us support individual needs in a nurturing way. They can explore, investigate, get muddy, build confidence and develop independence through real experiences both indoors and outdoors.

For the team, it means a working environment where no two days will be the same, you’ll have the opportunity to make a real difference at every level of the nursery.

Benefits That Make a Difference

• 100% off childcare - Free childcare for YMCA employees at our nurseries.
• Extra support during the school holidays - One free week of YMCA 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.

Part of something bigger

The YMCA Fairthorne Group support children, young people and families across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and 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 a Nursery Manager, your impact reaches far beyond the day-to-day running of the nursery

• You Inspire and develop your team
• You recognise and support the individual needs of the children we care for,
• You make sure that families feel welcome, valued and listened to
• You create a great working culture
• You champion the standards of the nursery
• You improve everyday practice

Those things matter! And they are part of our wider ambition to help people

Safeguarding

The 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.

Up to £44,500 per annum