Senior Early Years Practitioner (Room Lead)
Location: Witham
Salary: up to £28,000 per annum
Contract/Hours: Permanent/Full Time – 40 hours per week
Closing date: Midnight on the 15th May 2026
Benefits:
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Professional qualifications and excellent training
- Flexible maternity, adoption, and paternity packages
- Up to 5% employer contribution and life assurance cover
- Blue Light Card eligibility with discounts at 15,000 national retailers
About the role
As a Senior Early Years Practitioner, you’ll play a key role in the nursery’s daily routine, leading your room to deliver high quality early years education and care for all children. You will plan, implement and review engaging activities that promote learning and development in line with the EYFS, ensuring every child thrives in a safe, stimulating, and inclusive environment.
In this role, you will support and guide other practitioners’ model best practise, and help maintain strong, positive partnership with parents and carers. You'll be responsible for completing accurate and up-to-date observations assessments and records.
What you’ll be doing
In the role of Senior Early Years Practitioner, you'll be:
- Leading the staff within the room on providing learning programmes for individual or groups of children appropriate to their needs and developmental stages in accordance with Early Years legislation and guidance.
- Support children with emerging or established special educational needs, working closely with family’s staff external agencies and professionals to ensure each child's needs are understood and met
- Ensuring the compliance and application of nursery policies and procedures and relevant legislative requirements, informing management immediately of any instances of non-compliance or variations in practices.
- Contributing to and participating in the wider nursery management through leading on specific areas of development within the nursery, as directed by the Nursery Manager.
- Preparing and supervising dedicated areas/rooms within the setting on specific working patterns through planning, monitoring of outcomes, managing ratio of children, and the provision of a stimulating and appropriate range of activities whilst ensuring health and care needs are met.
What we need from you
In the role of Senior Early Years Practitioner, we're ideally looking for someone who has:
- Level 3 early years and childcare qualification e.g., NNEB, CACHE, NVQ Level 3 in Childcare and Education.
- A thorough knowledge of children's developmental needs from 0 to 5 years.
- Experience working and leading in an early year setting.
- Strong planning, observation and reflection of children and their learning.
- Effective communication skills across multiple age groups.
- Paediatric First Aid qualification.
About the nursery
Spring Harlequin, is a 37-place nursery care for children from birth to 7 years, offering full-day sessions and wrap around care with breakfast and after-school fun. It offers a home-from-home environment where children are encouraged to play, explore, and grow at their own pace, guided by caring practitioners who help them become confident, curious learners.
As a Senior practitioner, you’ll join our dynamic team, working together to support each child’s learning to ensure each day is fun and engaging.
Why Spring Nurseries
Imagine a place where laughter echoes, imaginations run wild, and every day is new adventure. At Spring Nurseries, where more than a collection of settings, we are a family, dedicated to nurturing children to thrive and supporting staff through a clear career pathway.
Whether this is a career change for you or the next step in your journey, we'd love to hear from you.
We work together to reach our mission to give children a healthy start in life.
Good luck! We can't wait to hear from you.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: Up to £28,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Flexitime
- Health & wellbeing programme
Work Location: In person
