Early Years Practitioner, First Steps Nursery

Early Years Practitioner, First Steps Nursery (SPH) The closing date is 17 December 2025 The Trust nurseries are looking for kind, thoughtful, enthusiastic and loyal Early Years Practitioners to provide and enhance good quality care to an established and popular work place day nursery, within the grounds of St Peter's Hospital. The Trust has two nurseries and you will be required on occasions to work across site, although the post will be primarily based at St. Peter's Hospital. Ashford and St Peter's NHS Trust is a forward‑thinking organisation which is part of the Government's initiative to support parents who work within the NHS, by providing quality and affordable day care for their employees. Parents are able to return to work, knowing their children are being well cared for by a highly professional and approachable team. Our nurseries provide excellent day care for 158 children across sites per day aged between 3 months and 5 years. A playscheme runs for 24 children aged between 4 yrs and 10 yrs 11 months during all school holidays on the St Peter's site. We are continually reviewing our practice to enable us to provide a caring and stimulating environment for our children. Each dedicated team member is part of that by being involved with planning activities following The New Early Years Foundation Stage, caring for the children, and providing positive feedback to parents both verbally and in writing. Main duties of the job The postholder will be a key worker to a designated group of children, supervising and enabling them to thrive by providing a stimulating, caring and learning environment in which children of all ages may develop. You will also give positive feedback to parents about their children's development. About us Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of more than 410,000 people living in North‑West Surrey, parts of Hounslow and beyond. Over 3,700 highly trained doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare scientists and other support staff make up our workforce, providing a wide range of services across our two hospital sites, Ashford, Surrey and St Peter's, Chertsey, Surrey. We also run many specialist clinics in the community and local community hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Our vision is to be one of the best healthcare Trusts in the country. This is a good time to join us in the NHS at ASPH. We are committed to providing continuous professional development and flexibility to shape our workforce around patient care. We are expanding our theatres at Ashford Hospital and moving towards becoming a dedicated elective centre. We want to create a state‑of‑the‑art centre for excellence for planned surgical procedures. We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition: Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement On‑site nurseries On‑site staff cafes On‑site parking Salary Sacrifice schemes including wage stream, lease cars, Cycle to Work schemes and home electronics Adverts may close early, so applicants are encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible. For more information about a career at ASPH please visit: www.asph-careers.org Job responsibilities To be aware of and act appropriately on Trust Safeguarding Children Policies and Procedures. Under the direction of the Advanced Early Years Practitioner assist in the day‑to‑day running of the nursery in accordance with all Trust and Nursery policies and procedures. Sustain and develop good practice within the nursery, by sharing responsibility in offering a stimulating environment for the children in your care, ensuring that ideas covering The New Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) are shared so that a child can develop to the appropriate age and stage of development. Through observations on your key children produce individual short‑ and medium‑term development plans. As a key worker to a designated group of children be responsible for the documentation of the children's Learning Journeys, enabling you to provide positive feedback to parents. Engage in all physical aspects of the children's health, wellbeing care and play – i.e. lifting, running, bending, sitting on the floor. Develop links with parents and encourage parental participation within the nursery. Be understanding and receptive to parents' wishes. Offer encouragement and advice when appropriate. Be aware of the confidential aspects of work, treating all confidential information relating to the children, parents, staff and professional contacts in a manner which will protect the individual. Follow all guidelines with regards to the administration of medication as well as the daily health and safety checks made within the nursery. Attend regular team meetings and annual staff training to maintain all annual statutory training including Safeguarding Children and Adults, Information Governance, Health and Safety, Manual Handling, Equal Opportunities, Hand Hygiene and Fire Training. For further information about this post, please contact: Catherine Loughman, ext. 4757 / Kelly Chester, ext. 2192. Person Specification Qualifications and Further Training NVQ3 in Childcare and Education Experience Previous experience working with children 3 months – 5 years. 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. Employer name Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust #J-18808-Ljbffr