Nursery Room Leader — Central Coventry
We’re a busy, play-based nursery in the heart of Coventry, and we’re looking for a hands-on, inspiring Room Leader to oversee our thriving 3&4-year-old room. If you’re passionate about early years, love rolling up your sleeves to join the play, and care deeply about children’s outcomes, we’d love to hear from you.
About the role
- Lead the day-to-day practice in our 3-year-old room, creating a joyful, engaging, and inclusive play-based environment.
- Model outstanding interactions and child-led learning, ensuring every child makes strong progress across all areas of the EYFS.
- Plan, deliver, and evaluate a rich curriculum with clear intent, implementation, and impact, tailored to individual needs.
- Coach, motivate, and inspire your team—supporting professional growth, wellbeing, and a positive, reflective culture.
- Maintain high standards of safeguarding, health and safety, and behaviour with a calm, patient, and consistent approach.
- Produce clear, accurate observations and reports (handwritten or typed—no software tools), including learning journals, next steps, and termly summaries.
- Oversee key person practice, ratios, room routines, and effective deployment.
- Contribute to HR tasks such as rota planning, supervising performance, conducting return-to-work and supervision meetings, and supporting recruitment/induction.
- Build strong, respectful relationships with families and professionals, communicating progress and plans with clarity and warmth.
About you
- Experienced Room Leader (essential) with a proven track record in a busy early years setting.
- Deep, up-to-date EYFS knowledge and confident in assessment, planning, and curriculum leadership.
- Passionate about play-based, child-led pedagogy and skilled in scaffolding learning through high-quality interactions.
- Calm, patient, and solution-focused—able to hold boundaries while nurturing children and colleagues alike.
- Strong communicator with excellent written skills for report writing without reliance on software systems.
- Organised and proactive, with experience of HR-related responsibilities (rotas, supervisions, performance support).
- Relevant Early Years qualification (Level 3 or above) and strong safeguarding knowledge. Paediatric First Aid desirable.
What we offer
- A supportive, values-led team that celebrates play, curiosity, and outdoor learning.
- Dedicated CPD and coaching to help you grow as a leader.
- Competitive salary (dependent on qualifications and experience), 10% pension, and comprehensive employee assistance program.
- Well-resourced learning spaces and the autonomy to shape your room’s curriculum and environment.
Hours, pay, and start date
- Full-time, year-round role based in Central Coventry.
- Salary: competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications.
- Start date: as soon as available (we’re happy to discuss notice periods).
How to apply Please send your CV and a short cover letter explaining how you lead play-based learning and inspire teams. Include a detailed planned activity for a small group of 3year olds (a template can be provided upon request) and a brief sample (one paragraph) of a child progress summary, written without software tools.
Safeguarding We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All roles are subject to enhanced DBS checks, references, and online checks in line with Ofsted’s safer recruitment expectations.
A great Room Leader changes a child’s every day. If that sounds like you, we can’t wait to meet you.
Pay: £30,000.00-£34,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Referral programme
- Transport links
Application question(s):
- Level 3 qualified in Early Years
Experience:
- supervising a team: 2 years (required)
Work Location: In person
