Nursery Manager

Join our exceptional team

Seymour House is a family run day nursery group with 35 years of experience in making a real difference to families, our team, the environment, and the community.

Our success is built on the experience of our team and their dedication to achieving our goals. So, we want to reward our team by creating the best place to work in early years, where people can grow with us, create a lasting impact, and share in our success. We want our team to feel connected to our purpose, trust they are valued and be able to fulfil their career ambitions.

The Nursery Manager is key in supporting the nursery team to be beyond brilliant. They ensure we deliver outstanding care and education for children and families by making the nursery an exceptional place to work based on our vision and values. We are looking for someone with expertise in early years and nursery leadership experience, who is looking to take the next exciting step in their career. This is a fantastic opportunity to develop skills in a flexible, friendly, and creative environment.

Perks of the role

• Competitive salary
• Nursery discount for employees’ children
• 33 days annual leave including bank holidays
• A friendly, flexible team with social events throughout the year
• Ongoing training opportunities
• Health and wellbeing resources and support
• Free life coaching in the Dream Academy
• Discounted gym membership
• Access to a financial wellbeing service
• Specsavers eyecare vouchers
• MediCash Health Cash Plan

About the role

The Nursery Manager position is a diverse and exciting role, working in dual leadership with the Head of Early Years Practice. The dual leadership structure provides the breadth of skills, knowledge and expertise that when combined is more robust to successfully lead and manage the day to day running of an outstanding setting. Together you will lead on all aspects of the early years provision, children, safeguarding, parents, and team issues in a professional manner, in line with the organisation’s procedures and values. The Nursery Manager specifically leads safeguarding, health and safety and place management, key responsibilities include;

Delivery of Care and Education

• Ensuring that the nursery meets the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and Ofsted registration and inspection criteria, along with Local Authority requirements
• Leading on all matters relating to safeguarding children and child protection, as the named Designated Safeguarding Lead, attending the Designated Safeguarding Lead every two years and ensuring accurate confidential records are maintained
• Developing a culture where safeguarding children is embedded in all we do, and all team members have a sound understanding of safeguarding
• Managing all aspects of health and safety of the children, visitors, team and environment by completing risk assessments, regular health and safety inspections and recording and reviewing accidents
• Menu planning in line with the children’s dietary needs, alongside the nurseries Food Champion
• Ensure children are provided with the opportunity to meet their full potential through fun and exciting age and stage appropriate experiences, in line with our vision and values
• Ensuring the learning environment is effective to deliver our curriculum, that policies and procedures are adhered to and that the resources are of high quality, safe and fit for purpose
• Promoting and supporting the development of outstanding practice with regard to inclusion and facilitate partnership with parents/carers, other family members, outside agencies and the wider community to meet the needs of all children
• Ensuring that parents/carers receive excellent customer care and communication from the nursery team on all aspects of nursery provision. Oversee that parents are encouraged to fully engage in their children’s learning and given opportunity to participate in nursery life and education
• Ensuring that a high level of customer satisfaction, to maintain an excellent reputation, and positively promote and market the nursery in the local community and to prospective parents in line with the organisations vision and values
• Having a proactive approach to place management; forecasting occupancy levels, managing and monitoring enquiry levels, offering places, to seek maximum occupancy levels
• Managing monthly fee reconciliation and FEEE administration
• Working with the Head of Early Years Practice to drive for improvement through the reflective practice cycle to ensure the nursery is prepared for external inspection from Ofsted
• Taking a lead in Ofsted inspections of the nursery

Team Development

• Building strong relationships with the nursery team as a trusted manager who role models and communicates our values
• Developing a strong, highly skilled and motivated team with potential future leaders, through inspirational leadership where individuals strive to work at an outstanding level and to their full potential
• Performance management for the nursery team, identifying strengths and training needs, and supporting with skill development and CPD
• Reviewing team Key Performance Indicator data to support the management of absence and turnover
• Effectively deploy the team in line with the nurseries staffing structure and keep teams’ personnel records up to date
• Recruiting new nursery team members in line with safer recruitment procedures
• Inducting and mentoring new nursery team members
• Leading one to one and group training sessions and team meetings/supervisions
• Taking responsibility for own CPD to keep knowledge and skills fresh and inspirational

Operational Leadership

• Live, and role model, our values, understand and champion our mission
• Be a visible role model, who demonstrates outstanding Early Years Practice to the nursery team, children and their families, and the wider community
• Keeping up to date with policies and procedures, statutory requirements and current early years thinking and share learnings for improvement across the team
• Leading a culture where all team have high regard for the importance of the nursery environment, resources, safety and hygiene, ensuring professional standards are upheld
• Sharing appropriate information on operational matters with the Area Manager, Nursery Operations Team and wider team to ensure the setting is receiving the support it requires to be successful
• Thinking and plan ahead to anticipate future challenges and collaboratively resolve issues
• Analysing Key Performance Indicators and action data to support performance of the nursery
• Meeting the nursery’s financial objectives, maximising revenue, managing budgets and expenditure in line with our vision and values
• Attending regular meetings, contributing to the agenda and discussion, and working collaboratively with other nurseries and the wider team for the good of the whole organisation
• Is open to and puts forward new ideas and ways of working to positively impact children, parents, and team
• Establishing and maintaining professional working relationships with relevant Local Authority Departments, regulatory bodies and other agencies.

Other Information

This job description is not exhaustive, and the post holder is required to undertake any other reasonable duties as directed by the Area Manager.

We actively promote equal opportunities and are committed to equality and diversity for all our children and team. Applicants will be considered on merit only, irrespective of race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or belief.

A copy of the Company’s Equal Opportunities Policy and Disclosure Information Policy is available on request.

Seymour House is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all team members and volunteers to share this commitment.

Candidates should be aware that we may conduct an online search as part of our due diligence on shortlisted candidates to identify any publicly available information relating to incidents or issues that could be relevant to the recruitment process.

This post is classed as having a high degree of contact with children and is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. An enhanced check is completed and regularly updated through the Disclosure and Barring Service

About you

• You will be qualified in Early Years to level 3 or above, with at least two years post qualification experience of working in an early years setting
• You must hold a Level 2 (GCSE or equivalent) maths qualification
• You must be able to build meaningful relationships with all stakeholders, children, parents, team, central team colleagues, have excellent communication skills and maintain confidentiality
• You must be able to communicate our team and brand values through excellent communication and teamwork
• A real ‘can do’ attitude and self-motivation is essential – we need our team to love working together!
• You must be willing and able to travel to monthly meetings at central office or other nursery settings in Essex when needed
• You must be eligible to work in the UK and obtain a satisfactory DBS