Pre-school Assistant – Maternity Cover

BUILDING A NEW DIRECTION LIMITED; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 16,000 - 18,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

6% matched-pension contributions

Flexible working from day one

Enhanced sick and family leave

Job summary

Family Action in Peterborough is seeking a Pre-school Assistant for temporary maternity cover. The role is based at Paston Fundays Pre-school, Honeyhill Family Hub, Peterborough, PE4 7DH, with term-time hours and a 34.75-hour week across 38 weeks per year.

The role involves supporting young children as they learn and develop, building strong relationships with families, and using observation to assess development. Start date January 2027, with a temporary fixed-term contract for maternity cover.

Qualifications

• Must hold Level 2 or higher EY childcare qualification or be working towards it.
• Experience supporting young children with learning through play.

Responsibilities

• Working within a small team to deliver excellent practice.
• Supporting early identification and interventions for children needing additional developmental support.
• Understanding safeguarding within the role.
• Holding responsibility for a key group of children and progressing their learning and development.

Skills

Early years qualification

Experience with early learning

Education

Level 2 Early Years & Childcare

Job description

Job Reference:

1902

Location:

Cambridgeshire

Hours of Work:

34.75 hours per week / 38 weeks per year (part-time, term time only)

Salary:

£12.71 per hour

Contract Type:

Temporary Contract

Closing Date:

06 Nov 2026

Pre-school Assistant – temporary maternity cover

Service: Peterborough Pre-Schools

Salary: £12.71 per hour

Location: Paston Fundays Pre-school, Honeyhill Family Hub, Peterborough, PE4 7DH

Hours: 34.75 hours per week, term time only (38 weeks per year)

- 8.15 am – 3.30 pm Mon, Weds, Thurs, Fri and 8.15 am – 4.30 pm Tuesday for planning

Contract: Temporary – maternity cover

Temporary - maternity cover contract, currently expected to be 39 weeks fixed‑term contract but subject to change and will be terminated when the substantive post holder returns to work.

Start date – January 2027

Family Action & the Role’s Impact:

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first‑hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

This is a busy and varied role offering the chance to support young children as they learn and develop within one of our early years setting. The role includes building strong working relationships with the families who access the service and supporting them in their journey as their child navigates these important years. This is a keyworker role requiring skills in observation and assessment of a child’s stage of development and an understanding of how to progress their learning in the moment.

Main Responsibilities:

• Working within a small team to always deliver excellent practice
• Supporting with the early identification and interventions for children requiring additional developmental support
• Understanding the importance of safeguarding within your role
• Holding responsibility for a key group of children and progressing their learning and development

Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):

• Must either hold a full and valid early years and childcare qualification at Level 2 or above or be working towards this.
• Must have some relevant experience of supporting young children with their learning through play.

Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service - Enhanced Level including children’s barred list check

Benefits:

• up to 6% matched‑pension contributions
• flexible working arrangements and new starters have the right to make flexible working requests from day one of employment
• enhanced paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions
• eye care and winter flu jabs vouchers
• cycle to work scheme
• investing in your professional development with ongoing quality training and career development opportunities

We are forward looking, ambitious and committed to continuous improvement. We are a people focused, can‑do organisation, which strives for excellence in all we do and operates with mutual respect.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community / particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities because we are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action. We know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support.

All candidates with a disability are welcome to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and request priority consideration for an interview, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role.

To help remove financial barriers to working with us, we will reimburse travel costs if you are invited to attend an interview in person.

Appointments are subject to satisfactory Safer Recruitment checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where appropriate to the role.

Ordinarily Family Action appoints new starters at the starting point of the salary scale (with subsequent annual pay progression), unless you have experience that would justify appointment further up the salary scale or there are any other exceptional reasons.