Daycare Manager

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Job Description

• Highfield Children's Centre
• Address: Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 6DW
• Salary: £32,000 - £35,000 per annum, depending on experience
• Hours: 37.5 hours per week, 52.14 weeks per year
• Contract: Permanent, required as soon as possible
• Reference: 0393

Highfield Children's Centre are looking for a Daycare Manager to lead and manage a vibrant, successful daycare setting.

As our Daycare Manager, you will:

• deliver and ensure an exceptional standard of learning, development and care
• manage day to day running of the setting
• ensure that children and staff are always safeguarded
• collaborate with parents and carers as partners in the childrens' learning journeys.

What you will need:

• A minimum full and relevant Level 3 Early Years qualification
• Grade C/4+ Mathematics at GCSE level
• A minimum of 2 years recent experience working in an early years setting, ideally already in a senior practitioner, room leader or deputy role. You may also be a manager looking for a new challenge.
• Excellent working knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage, local safeguarding procedures and current Ofsted statutory guidance.
• A passion for ensuring that all children are nurtured with consistent, innovative care that allows them to flourish and become lifelong lovers of learning.

About us

Early Years at Highfield is a 24-place setting offering all year round, full daycare for children aged 2 - 4 years in Northwest Ipswich. The setting was established in January 2007 and has had consistently outstanding Ofsted inspections since that date. The last inspection was carried out in February 2020. It is a place that has a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment.

The setting benefits from close working relationships with, and the support of, the on-site maintained nursery school and children's centre.

Early Years at Highfield, together with a sister setting located in the Whitehouse area of Ipswich, is part of Highfield Children's Centre company, a not-for-profit company. The managers of both settings work closely together and report to a small team of directors.

The maintained nursery is the lead in the East of England Stronger Practice Hub and there are regular opportunities for the manager to work alongside the hub.

We can offer you:

• An ideal opportunity to work with like-minded individuals who are passionate about early years education.
• A wide range of CPD opportunities available to all staff through the Stronger Practice Hub.
• Working for a small organisation where you can have a positive influence on practice and outcomes.

For more information

Please read the Job Description (pdf)and Application Guidance (pdf).

To find out more, or to arrange a visit, please contact Ruth Coleman by calling 01473 742534.

How to apply

Please submit your completed Application Form (Word) to Karen Pringle, Business Manager by email at karen.pringle@highfieldchildrenscentre.org.

Closing date: 1pm, 25 September 2025.

Interview date: 6 October 2025.

Promoted as JOTW (Job of the Week) on Suffolk Jobs Direct.

About the Team

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