Early Years Practitioner

Full Job Description

How would you like to be paid for five days but only work four*?

Our colleagues’ wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at OFG, so we’re always looking for new ways to improve everyone’s work/life balance. We’re taking part in a trial of the 4-Day Working Week, meaning that you could be working one day less a week (or equivalent).

If the trial is a success, we’ll be rolling the 4DWW out across the Group – so there’s never been a more exciting time to join #teamOFG!

Location: Acorn Park School, Banham, Norwich

Pay: £22,000 - £27,000 per annum

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday 8.30-4.30

Contract: Permanent, Term Time Only

The opportunity

Enjoy a rewarding education career and have a real impact on pupils and young people’s lives. Join an amazing team creating supportive, nurturing environments where our pupils achieve far more than they ever expected.

As a EYFS Qualified Early Years Practitioner, you will connect directly with the brilliant pupils and young people we care for, helping to make sure they get the very best from their education. Individually they may have a diagnosis of SEN or in the process of being assessed for identified areas of SEN. They have so much potential, and they will rely on you to guide their learning journeys bespoke to them.

You will help prepare learning materials and run classroom activities, with plenty of hands-on experience and some supervision too. You will take responsibility for their emotional and physical needs, supporting them to develop as individuals and engage with the world.

You will be adaptable and ready to work in a variety of classroom roles, both indoors and outside according to individual need. Taking a responsive and caring approach, you may be running classroom activities, leading outdoor experiences or supervising children as they explore further afield.

You will face challenges and overcome them as you flourish and thrive, sharing your skills and learning from others as your career takes you as high as you always dreamed you could go.

Every day will be different, but you will have all the support you need, with lots of skills and experience to draw on along with valuable advice and guidance too.

Requirements

• Minimum of Level 2 EYFS
• Level 3 qualified with good knowledge of the EYFs (desirable)
• Must have worked in Early Years setting as a keyworker to pupils
• Must have experience of carrying out planned activities linked to students interest and curriculum, managing pupils learning journeys and ensuring the safety and welfare of pupils.
• Have experience of working in a team and sharing ideas.
• Have a passion for working with neurodiverse pupils.

About us

Acorn Park is a school for 98 pupils, who all have a primary diagnosis of Autism. We run two curriculum pathways – Formal and Semi-formal. Our Complex needs pupils are on the Semi-Formal Pathway which is highly personalised from their EHCP. We have a mixture of Day and Residential pupils as we have 8 co-located pupil’s homes on our 30 Acre site in rural Norfolk. On site, we also have a large Forest School and Animal Care Farm along with play facilities, a sports hall and sensory rooms.

Teachers can expect to be given a Laptop, have lunch provided daily with the pupils and have a range of benefits from Teachers Pension to Bupa Medical care and a number of salary sacrifice schemes too.

For over 16 years Options Autism have provided care and education to pupils, young people and adults with autism, complex needs and learning difficulties. As part of Outcomes First Group, we are leading our sector in setting and delivering new approaches that provide measurable outcomes for those in our care.

Why join Options Autism?

• Free On-Site Training - we offer training to deliver therapeutic interventions through our occupational therapists and speech and language therapists
• Development – We value all of our staff, if you are looking to develop your career we offer many opportunities whether that be within our nursery or one of our specialist schools
• Apprenticeships – We offer Apprenticeships in Level 3 and can even offer management apprenticeships when the time is right!
• If you have a child in Nursery and are concerned about the costs for securing employment, have you checked to see if you are eligible for Tax Free Childcare? - You could be entitled to get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4000 a year). You can check your eligibility on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

Benefits

Your health and wellbeing are important to us, so you’ll get an exceptional reward package including:

• Life Assurance
• Pension scheme with options to increase your contributions
• “Your Wellbeing Matters” – access to a wide range of first-class mental health support services and physical health checks

And a market-leading benefit offering through our Flexible Benefits Platform, Vista, enables you to choose the package that’s right for you, including:

• A wide range of health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits
• 100’s of discount options valid in the UK and abroad
• Cycle to Work Schemes
• Electric Car Purchase Scheme
• Critical illness cover

And that’s not all, we place the outcomes of the pupils and vulnerable young adults in our services at the heart of everything we do, so you’ll wake every day in the knowledge that your role will have a significant positive impact on the lives of others.

We are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and young people. All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful applicants to a fully enhanced DBS.

• You’ll work 80% of your contractual hours for 100% of your pay, giving you more time to do the things that make you happy.

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