1. To be accountable for the delivery of high quality inclusive early education, which is responsive to the needs of children and their families.
2. To lead practice within the classroom. This includes:
- establishing and sustaining a safe, welcoming and stimulating environment through the provision of appropriate resources
- planning a balance of continuous provision and adult-led experiences,
- promoting the development of children's prime areas of learning so they provide the right foundations for the development of the specific areas of learning
- organising learning materials and resources by using them creatively
- developing children's curiosity, interests and knowledge
4. To ensure that all practitioners understand the principles and content of the Early Years Foundation Stage and know how to put them into practice
5. To ensure that practitioners have high expectations of all children and demonstrate commitment to ensuring that they can achieve their full potential
6. To influence and shape the policies and practices of the setting and share in collective responsibility for their implementation
7. To ensure that the service delivery is maintained within current legislative requirements including the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements, Health and Safety and Safeguarding and the Learning and Development Requirements.
8. To work in partnership with parents / carers and other family members, providing formal and informal opportunities through which information about children’s well-being, development and learning can be shared to improve their outcomes
9. To contribute to the work of a multi-professional team and, where appropriate, coordinate and implement agreed programmes and interventions on a day-to-day basis
10. To work in partnership with specialist agencies or professionals to ensure the safety and well-being of all children, identifying child or family support needs as necessary
11. To take responsibility for staff professional development including apprentices and sessional staff by role modelling best practice, providing mentoring support sessions
12. To conduct termly observations of practice and report findings to the Head
13. To conduct termly monitoring of learning records and feedback to the practitioners about how they can improve the quality of their observations and the accuracy of their assessments.
14. To undertake any other duties as may be appropriate and required from time to time.
- The post holder must have hold EYTS or a graduate Early Years’ qualification. For applicants with QTS, this should be specific to the foundation stage age group. Where this is not the case, the applicant should be able to demonstrate training and recent experience of working in at a leadership level with the foundation stage age group or should be willing to undertake relevant CPD training.
- Extensive experience of working with young children, particularly 2-5 year olds
- Experience of leading teams in delivering high quality early education
- Experience of working in partnership with other agencies and organisations when identifying and meeting the needs of children and families and in response to safeguarding concerns
- A thorough knowledge and understanding of the EYFS, Ofsted Education Inspection Framework and relevant current legislation.
- A good understanding of the developmental needs of young children, 2 to 5 year olds
- A good understanding of what constitutes a quality early education environment
- An up to date knowledge and understanding of safeguarding requirements and procedures
- A good understanding of making accurate assessments of children’s learning and development and devising appropriate next steps for their learning
- Ability to design and develop early education environments and programmes and built on the children’s interests and the characteristics of effective teaching and learning
- Flexibility, initiative and the ability to vary and structure the curriculum according to children’s needs
- Good observational skills and the experience to support staff in knowing when and how best to intervene to support children’s learning, development and interactions.