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About The Role

Working as a Childcare Manager you will lead on operational management and co-ordination of the childcare provision including staff, children, equipment, planning and implementing of the Early Years Foundations Stages (EYFS) working towards an outstanding level of care and maintaining our Outstanding accreditation.

The provision of a safe and stimulating environment focused on learning through play, providing activities and quality childcare for children aged 3 months to 5 years. You will take the lead role in provision of the setting and continue to build upon our children's areas of learning to help foster their dreams for the future, realising their full potential and helping them to thrive. You will possess an excellent knowledge and understanding of the running of a setting, the EYFS and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and the necessary safeguarding processes.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about early years and staff development, dedicated and approachable leader with a Level 3 relevant childcare qualification and at least 2 years experience of leadership within an Early Years Setting or suitable experience. You will have Safeguarding, Paediatric First Aid, Childcare or Food Hygiene qualifications, be able to complete risk assessments and showcase commitment of your own Continued Professional Development (CPD). You will posses a good understanding and knowledge of different ICT systems and will be responsible for data input, managing finances and ensuring that the setting remain within child/staff ratios.

You will be passionate, inspiring, able to develop good working relationships with parents, children, staff and partner agencies and posses a clear vision for childcare and lead your team of practitioners in providing children with the best start in life. You will work closely with parents and carers over the care of their children, ensuring the setting continue to build upon their positive communication with parents and carers. You will work closely your team to develop standards and practice in relation to the EYFS, holding team meetings and training days, providing staff supervision and CPD's.

Every day is different and exciting! This role will provide you with many opportunities to learn new skills, solve problems and adapt to different situations. You will report and liaise with Senior Management Team to ensure close working relationships and the continuity of high standards of care.

Occasionally, you may be required to support with staffing cover as and when required, within our Blandford Nursery and Oscars out of school provision (rated good by OFSTED).

Further Information

This is a fixed term post running from July 2024 to May 2025.

Applicants should be competent at providing support and challenge to others, be patient, love working with children, enthusiastic, self-motivated, and able to use their initiative.

The successful candidate will have the p rivilege of enabling our youngest children to develop a love of learning at a crucial point in their personal development. The post holder will play a part in shaping children's love of learning, in partnership with parents and carers.

We use technology to communicate with each other and our families and you will be confident in using a computer. Support will be available on specific programmes we use.

You will be well organised needing to record observations, sharing information with parents and carers to support learning at home.

You will need a driving license and have access to a vehicle.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders .

Dorset Council: A great place to work

We're passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
have ambitious aspirations
are excited about our future
care about Dorset and all the people who live here
know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success
You will:
have access to a range of employee benefits
be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours . We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn .

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply .

About Us

We are a large team of 13 practitioners working across 3 rooms. Although staff are in their own set rooms, we are a friendly group of people and everyone is happy to help out where possible. We have a setting SENCO who you will work closely with to support any children with additional needs.

We pride ourselves on our behaviours and values, respect, responsibility, recognition, and we are One Team and love to work together. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children, and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Please be aware this post is subject to a satisfactory DBS disclosure application and other safer recruitment checks including 2 references.

As an employee of Dorset Council you will have access to a range of employee benefits including a generous annual leave entitlement and a pension scheme.