Apprentice Nursery Practitioner

We are looking for an Apprentice Nursery Practitioner at our Preston Park, Brighton Nursery.

Looking to start your career in Early Years? We are looking for people who want to work towards a Level 2 or 3 in childcare. This is a fantastic opportunity to start your career within a group of outstanding nurseries with the prospect to gain further responsibility and promotion once qualified.

Why work with us? Because Hopscotch values its staff.

Benefits include:

- Hopscotch offers an excellent salary, among the highest in the area. £14,652.30 - £19,845.80 (per annum pro rata).
- Closed for a week at Christmas. Our holiday leave is generous.
- Hopscotch has an ethos of promoting from within - we will always select an eligible member of staff rather than by external recruitment.
- Training: Hopscotch offers an excellent training schedule - from the moment you join us, your training won’t stop
- Social Events: Our nurseries are happy, friendly places to work and give staff immense job satisfaction. There are many opportunities for social events - fun and theme days, theatre visits, charity fund raising, park and farm visits, to name but a few.
- Nursery Environment: All our nurseries are outstanding, they have soft play areas with ball pools, excellent learning resources and Imagination Playrooms. You will be trained by experienced staff with who also love working with children.

Main Duties

To create an interesting and stimulating environment for the child to develop all their skills.

To provide at all times a warm and caring environment for babies and to be as consistent as possible regarding that environment.

To provide support for any children with special needs and to liaise with senior members of staff to promote their welfare and development.

To ensure positive management of children’s behaviour.

To carry out housekeeping duties as appropriate.

To ensure the ethos, implementation and legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

To support senior members of staff to ensure put appropriate Child Protection procedures into practice.

To attend regular out of hours training sessions as directed by course tutors in order to complete Level 2 Childcare Qualification.

To go about your duties with a positive and enthusiastic attitude - to be organised, efficient, confident, hardworking and conscientious.

To promote at all time’s good relations between staff members, parents and children, and at all times promote the good name and ethos of Hopscotch.

To cover any other staff responsibilities as appropriate at the request of the Manager, particularly taking into account that unforeseen situations can occur when looking after children, and that the child's care and welfare is paramount at all times.

As an apprentice you will be included on a L2 or 3 Early Years Practitioner/ Educator apprenticeship standard with Babcock Training. This will involve one to one training with a Regional Trainer who will meet with you on a regular basis.

**Qualifications Required**

Childcare qualifications are not essential, above all else you must be able to demonstrate a genuine desire to work with children 0-5 years old and be willing to undertake relevant training towards a Hopscotch and Ofsted approved childcare qualification.

**Skills Required**:
You must be able to demonstrate that you can read effectively and are able to communicate clearly and accurately in spoken and written standard English.

**Personal Qualities**
- An ability to work on own initiative.
- An ability to communicate effectively with parents and build a relationship of trust with them.
- A willingness to learn the policies and procedures of Hopscotch and to abide by the staff rules.
- A willingness to adhere to the Hopscotch dress code.
- A willingness to work as part of and contribute positively to the staff team.
- A willingness to attend staff meetings, training courses and nursery parent's evenings as
- appropriate.
- A commitment to attend regular out of hours training sessions as directed by course tutors in order to complete Level 2 Childcare Qualification.
- To possess a level of fitness to enable the lifting and handling of children and some equipment, the execution of light housekeeping duties and the ability to use a variety of cleaning products and personal protective equipment.

**Things to consider**

**Job Types**: Full-time, Apprenticeship

Pay: £369.75-£489.17 per week

Schedule:

- Day shift
- Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

- Brighton, BN1 6RD: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Work Location: In person