The Lodge Nursery Manager

We work closely with partners in the local community and key organisations including Reading Borough Council, policy, public health and voluntary groups. We are responsible for the delivery of children's social care, early help & prevention, education services (including SEND). This also includes fostering and adoption, the Youth Offending Service and traded services with schools.

Our main aim is to protect and enhance the lives of the children of Reading. Our responsibility is to deliver quality children's services, early help, education and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services in the borough.

The Lodge Nursery

The Lodge Day Nursery is a busy, popular and well-established nursery providing high quality, affordable and funded childcare to local families in the west of Reading. The nursery is set out over three rooms which connect to a private garden space. Our local community is diverse with children attending our setting from a range of different backgrounds and with many different languages represented. Our practitioners are completely focused on ensuring that all children achieve and have an equal chance of success in an environment which is inclusive, inspiring and nurturing.

The children are very important and so is our team. We work closely with our practitioners to ensure that they continue to learn, develop and share good practices.

We are currently looking for a Nursery manager who can provide professional leadership and management of the nursery to ensure a high quality, inclusive, sustainable service where parents, partners and the team are ambitious for the children and completely focused on their wellbeing and success.

The nursery manager is responsible for ensuring that all areas of the provision comply with legal requirements surrounding health and safety and Ofsted.

About Team/Role

The role of the nursery manager is to.

Provide professional leadership and management of the nursery to ensure a high quality, inclusive, sustainable service where parents, partners and the team are ambitious for the children and completely focussed on their wellbeing and success.
Ensure that all areas of the provision comply with legal requirements surrounding health and safety and Ofsted.
Be responsible for the operational day to day management of the nursery and the strategic planning of the direction, delivery and performance with the service manager.
Lead on the development and delivery of a business plan which ensures a flexible, affordable and inclusive offer with a high-quality service which generates an income to ensure sustainability.
Maintain and develop strong links into local partnerships, strategies and policies representing the interests of the setting and children across a variety of sectors.

You will be passionate and enthusiastic about providing an excellent early education with early identification of need, in order to ensure every child achieves their potential.
Applicants will have a Level 3 Early Years Qualification and evidence of ongoing professional development. You will also possess a degree related to early years and/or child development or work experience demonstrating a similar level of attainment.
You will have leadership experience and be competent in managing an inclusive service for children and for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities.
You will bring excellent interpersonal skills and experience of working in partnership with parents and involving them in supporting their child's development.
To must have thorough knowledge of EYFS and Ofsted standards in childcare settings, current legislation and processes in relation to safeguarding and child protection., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

Brighter Futures for Children is a not-for-profit company, owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council. Although we are independent, we are very much part of the Reading Family. Our people enjoy all of benefits as other Council employees including membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and continuous service.

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:
Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution
Incremental holidays starting with 26 days plus public holidays (rising to 33 after 10 years' service)
Discounted Child Care (on site nursery)
Cycle to work scheme.
Season train ticket loans
Salary Sacrifice Car Lease Scheme
A range of local shopping discounts
Remote/Agile working

Inclusion and Diversity

We want Brighter Futures for Children to be a great place to work and to ensure that our children, young people and families are represented in leadership roles and positions of power. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our children, young people and families so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do.

Asking for Adjustments

Brighter Futures for Children is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions.