Job Description

SENCO and Room Leader

Fir Vale Children's Centre

Hours of work: Shifts can be between 8.00 am and 4.00 pm (33 hours - hours negotiable)

Job Purpose:

Work in partnership with children, parents and other professionals to improve the quality of early year's provision; mentor and lead on change, inspire outstanding practice and share knowledge and understanding of the children's care, learning and development throughout the setting.

Equip all children to function as a member of a socially inclusive group and enable them to develop positive, co-operative and supportive relationships with peers and adults. Motivate children to learn and enable them to make the transition from dependence to independence, ensuring a high standard of care and education for all children across all the age ranges.

The room leader is a qualified childcare professional with the responsibility for the day to day running of their room. They perform an important role caring for children, maintaining a high quality, stimulating learning environment, supervising staff and imparting their knowledge and skills to others. They are creative and reflective leaders who are able to implement new ideas and use a range of strategies to continually improve practice and support the management team.

The SENCO will work as part of the team to identify and support children with SEND. They will work in partnership with staff, parents and other professionals to meet the needs of all children with additional needs.

Key Duties/ Responsibilities:

Promote a learning culture at the nursery through your work with the children and their families. Be able to provide activities on a daily basis to encourage development and learning. Prepare snacks for the children in the morning or afternoon and ensure that meal times are a time of pleasant social sharing. Ensure all children are able to access a healthy balance of child and adult initiated activities, remove barriers to participation and enable them to take measured and calculated risks but setting their own safety limits. Promote positive behaviour and independence through effective behaviour management strategies and develop children's social, emotional and behaviour skills. Actively support the development of children's language, active listening and communication skills. Work in an anti-discriminatory manner, ensuring that all practice is consistent with meeting the diverse needs of the community. Observe and assess the development and behaviour of children, identifying each child's individual needs and endeavour to ensure that these needs are met. Promote self-help skills and encourage good hygiene practice. Work with parents of special needs children to give full integration in the nursery. Take responsibility for maintaining the safety of the children in your care at all times and advise the Manager/Deputy Manager of any potential problems relating to safety. Consistently promote the rights of the child, have regard to and endeavour to meet the aims of the EYFS framework, relevant government legislation and policies and support children in their early years. Ensure that all practitioners establish warm, respectful trusting supportive relationships with babies and children. Support parents/carers in their relationship with their children.

Room Leader responsibilities:

Lead the implementation and delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage by working directly with children, families, practitioners and other professionals from within and beyond the setting. Motivate, inspire and lead a team of early year's practitioners. Support and mentor staff/trainees in the early year's settings in skills and behaviours that safeguard and promote good outcomes for children. Ensure the setting provides a rich range of resources suitable for children of all ages, interests and abilities taking account of diversity, equality and promoting inclusion. Ensure that practitioners are able to identify and acknowledge children's different learning styles, and offer support which is gradually removed to enable the child to develop confidently and independently. Encourage the view of children as independent thinkers who are rich in potential and who can act for themselves. Provide children with opportunities to create their own learning and reflect upon their experiences with others. Support practitioners in acknowledging the various influences and transitions experienced by a child both inside and outside the setting. Liaise with local schools and other settings. Provide a rich and effective play-based environment for all children through the use of a variety of informed observations and other strategies to record children's development and progress systematically. Use this information to improve practice and provision for each child, enabling them to reach their full potential. Maintain up to date knowledge and current thinking in developments in Early Years by attending regular network meetings. To mentor colleagues and encourage an ethos of continued professional development across the setting. Delivering and cascading training where necessary and hosting relevant meetings. Work with colleagues to regularly review practice, policies and procedures to ensure that they reflect change and the needs of the children, parents, staff and the setting. Create and maintain a culture of collaborative and co-operative working with colleagues in the setting, parents and fellow professionals thus promoting a culture of integrated working. Create and maintain a culture of collaborative and co-operative working with colleagues in the setting, parents and fellow professionals thus promoting a culture of integrated working. Support and encourage key persons to have a solid knowledge and understanding of individual children's needs, their family backgrounds and cultures. Work alongside colleagues and other professionals to implement and embed change where necessary based upon accurate and up to date pedagogy and wider global early years perspective. Develop strong collaborative working relationships with all practitioners within the setting. Provide opportunities to enable all practitioners to contribute to the development of the setting, the Self Evaluation form and other methods of evaluation.

SENCO responsibilities:

Encourage early identification and support of children with SEND. Liaise with professionals or agencies beyond the setting, and ensure advice given by professionals is incorporated in to the setting planning. Complete all necessary SEND paperwork in a timely and effective way. Organise and/or attend professional/parental meetings, including SEND Support plan meetings, transition meetings etc. Continue continuous professional development through training and encourage staff to attend appropriate training.

TEAM WORK

To work flexibly as part of the larger team, assisting and supporting colleagues wherever required, in order to ensure the smooth running of the nursery. Be flexible and able to move within the nursery to work within the different age ranges of children. Contribute to the effectiveness of team work by: - Communication is a vital part of team work - Supporting management in remaining 'good' and strive towards achieving outstanding with Ofsted. - Reflect upon our practice daily in everything we do. Things can always be made better. - Learn from each other, we all hold different skills. To be part of a team that provides a purposeful, stimulating environment that is rich in learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors. Activities should take into account children's abilities, interests, language and cultural backgrounds. Work constructively and professionally with colleagues ensuring clear and open communication with the staff team. To respect and value all colleagues, children and parents, encouraging a positive and diverse working environment. To assist in the development and support of other staff members by communicating effectively, sharing knowledge and experience, delegating tasks appropriately, identifying training needs, leading meetings, inductions and 1:1's - with support from the nursery manager.*
To co-operate and work effectively with the manager, taking on additional responsibilities/duties and positively promoting developments in policies and procedures to team members.*

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

To embrace, understand and promote Fir Vale Children's Centre and the role you play as part of the team which provides high levels of care and education. Establish good working relationships with parents/ carers to ensure that they are engaged in the child's education and development Promote positive relationships in the early years setting. Be a key person by carrying out all related responsibilities such as building relationships with a small group of children and their families. Key persons are responsible for ensuring key children have an appropriate target set each week which will form part of the planning. To lead by example. To be professional and a good role model to the children and other staff members at all times. To be responsible for the welfare of all children in your designated room, organising systems to ensure consistent, high quality care. To work in partnership with all parents/carers, building and maintaining relationships that encourage trust, open communication and involvement in nursery life. Continual communication with parents verbally or on tapestry regarding the key child's learning and development.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

To reinforce settings policies and procedures at all times and deal with any breaches swiftly and in an appropriate manner. To ensure that you have an excellent understanding and have a working knowledge of all aspects of Health and safety and the risks assessments that are in place. Promote the health, safety and wellbeing of the children and other professionals within the building by completing toilet checks and daily risk assessments for rooms. To ensure all safeguarding procedures are followed in line with local authority and company procedures. Respond appropriately to issues regarding confidentiality. Respect at all times the rights to confidentiality that parents and children alike are entitled to. To work in partnership to ensure standards are continually being met in line with Ofsted requirements and the EYFS. To contribute to the creation of a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all children. To be vigilant and protect children from harm or abuse, reporting any concerns immediately - in accordance with child protection and whistleblowing policies.

GENERAL

Reflect on daily practice and identify areas for continual improvement. Promote equality and diversity within the nursery, challenging any behaviour which does not support our inclusive practice and equal opportunity policy. To be flexible within working practice of the nursery and be prepared to help if needed, including overtime in term time or during the holidays Attend staff meetings and training sessions necessary for continuing professional development. Be prepared to attend training to improve your own and the team's work practice. Attend parent meetings. Evening meetings may be required with adequate notice from the Manager. To deploy staff and resources effectively, maintaining ratios in your room at all times. Maintain staff ratios in accordance with statutory regulations. Ensure children are signed in and out correctly and all registers are accurate. To reflect on practice and routines, tailoring them to meet the individual needs of each child throughout the day. To undertake any other aspects of nursery work according to need. Undertake any domestic duties that may be required. Uphold the high standards of the nursery at all times. Observe and operate the organisation's practice guidelines, systems and procedures, including equal opportunities and health and safety. To oversee all the planning and the provision so that you are providing a stimulating range of age appropriate activities and ensuring a curiosity approach is taken.*
To carry out peer observations on the staff members in your room.*

Fir Vale Children's Centre provided the following inclusive hiring information:

We are an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants equally without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: 15.00 per hour

Expected hours: 33 per week

Benefits:

Bereavement leave Childcare Company pension Free parking On-site gym Sick pay
Application question(s):

Do you have an Early Years SENCO qualification?
Experience:

Childcare: 3 years (preferred)
Work Location: In person