Job Description

Job description - Nursery rated as one of the top 20 in Southeast England

Almost every nursery has a vacancy at the moment, so why join us?

One lucky person has the opportunity to join us in our beautiful Nursery but we require a special kind of person to ensure we have the perfect fit for our children, families, and team. Professionally, we are looking for someone hardworking to support us in delivering our shared ethos and help provide a secure and stimulating environment for the little ones. As an extended family, we are looking for someone who is completely reliable, honest and kind with a positive attitude. Could you be a grown-up friend and role model to our little ones, an advisor to our families and a trusted support to colleagues? We need someone who will deliver our self devised 'Curriculum web' and direct our team with clarity, kindness and complete professionalism. Our recent OFSTED rating of 'Good' confirmed our self-assessment that we would like more creative challenge for our youngest children. Are you the person that has experience and personal desire to support taking the Sunbeam team to the next level of development? Why not get in touch and find out more?

The post is for a

qualified Early Years Practitioner

as a 'Room Leader' (Lead Practitioner) as soon as possible. Ideally we require someone with previous experience of a Lead role or similar responsibility. You must have previous experience with this 0-2 age group.

*Full & Relevant Early Years Level 3 or above qualification is a non-negotiable .

This is due to an internal change of role for our existing Sunbeam Lead which we would like to implement swiftly to have as little impact on our children and colleagues as possible. Our

'Sunbeam' room

(0-2)

really is a delightful place to be. You would support our youngest little ones as they learn to communicate, walk and feed themselves while in good company; Sunbeam team are extremely supportive, positive, creative and friendly. Our new parents know they are leaving their babies in good hands, so why not join our trusted team?

As a

family owned Nursery

, we care about our team and make significant ongoing

investment in Staff Training, Resources and the Nursery environment

in order to continue the improvement of our setting. You can see it for yourself at:

www.sparklingminds.co.uk/about-us/our-setting/

with an

online tour of the building and grounds

. The outside area has an additional section of adjoining land which is now utilised as our Forest School which is lead by our Senior Lead Practitioner each week. As we are set on farmland, please consider the ability to travel to and from site each day as we are not on a public transport route - most suited to drivers although several staff ride their bike to work each day. We have a large car park, so no extra issues or cost are incurred for parking while at work.

We have four values at the heart of all that we do:

'Be Kind, Be Honest, Be Fair & Be Respectful'

We are an individual, family owned, setting. We are situated in former farm buildings that were designed to create a bright, spacious, inviting, and safe environment for children.

Due to the senior nature of the role, this would be a full-time opportunity working on a staff rota of

'four days on' and 'one day off'

each week. We are open all year with the exception of a week of Christmas closure and Bank Holidays. *We do not offer term time only contracts. 15 minute paid break each day with a 45 minute unpaid lunchbreak = 10 hour day (Doors open to children at 8am and last child can be collected at 6pm).

Pay range shown would be dependent on qualifications and appropriate experience alongside final contracted hours.

*For the right candidates who may choose to travel from slightly further afield, we consider a monthly travel support payment (at our discretion) which would be discussed at the point of interview.

We offer a free package of training to all our staff and provide several sets of uniform. 50% discounted childcare is available for staff children requiring a place in our setting (subject to availability of spaces). As part of our family business, we will know you as an individual and look after you as an employee to ensure you can look after our little ones!

Visit

www.sparklingminds.co.uk

for contact details and an opportunity to look at our 360 tour.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Preferred candidates will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and will be required to complete safeguarding training. We will also require at least two positive references before employment can begin.

This is what our team say about us:

"Such a lovely setting to work at. We really are one big family!"

"Sparkling Minds Nursery have made me wake up in the morning and want to go to work. Since starting here, I have loved every day! I have completed a variety of courses which have benefited me in furthering my knowledge and skills"

"We love to have fun, sing, dance and laugh. We build good relationships with children and each other...be kind to everyone and help each other..."

"Sparkling Minds is a lovely place to work. We all work well together and help each other out...I'm not the most confident of people, but the manager and owners are always there if you need support, advice or a chat. They support with any training and regularly stay behind to support those with training".

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 25,974.00-27,274.00 per year

Benefits:

Additional leave Childcare Company pension Employee discount Free parking On-site parking
Ability to commute/relocate:

Bicester OX25 3QE: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Application question(s):

After reading the information on our website describing our setting, why would you like to work at our setting over any other in the local area? www.sparklingminds.co.uk Do you have experience of senior role/responsibilities?
Experience:

0-2 age group: 1 year (required)
Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 27/07/2025
Reference ID: July 2025 Sunbeam Lead position
Expected start date: 01/09/2025