Nursery Apprentice

Join a team dedicated to putting children first. Acorn are a not for profit organisation focusing everything we do on the needs of our children.

Our people, are our values, delivering the Personal, Professional, Nurturing, Outdoor Learning and Ethical approaches that we live by.

You may need to transform into a dinosaur, become a racing car driver or put on a show - so, if you want to be part of something extraordinary, be part of Acorn.

We are seeking very special individuals to join us.  Do you have:

• A love of the outdoors and working with natural resources
• Naturally nurturing, caring and compassionate qualities
• An interest in child development and how children learn

At Acorn, our apprentices are an integral part of our nursery teams. You will hit the ground running in your Early Years career, whilst being supported and nurtured along the way. You will:

• Be a creative and inspirational role model for our children
• Learn how to deliver a holistic approach to the curriculum, ensuring the environment offers rich, first-hand learning opportunities for all children
• Seek out new experiences and skills to support you with your qualification and off-the-job training

By the end of the apprenticeship, you will gain:

• A Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification. We can also support you to achieve your maths and English functional skills qualifications if you do not already have these
• A paediatric first aid qualification.

Our early years apprenticeship offers you:

• A starting hourly pay rate of £8.00, increasing to £9.00 per hour 6 months after your apprenticeship enrolment date.
• A varied learning programme – filled with face-to-face tutorial sessions, opportunity to attend our additional workshop days and companywide training days to provide you with an apprenticeship programme that is truly supportive.
• A full time role (36 hours a week) working with children under 5 in our nursery to gain valuable practical childcare experience. You will work 30 core hours and 6 hours of off-the-job training.
• Opportunity to gain real-life, hands-on early years experiences to support you with your qualification and becoming a fantastic, qualified practitioner.
• A varied shift pattern, usually between the hours of 07:15am-18:30pm Monday-Friday.
• 'Off the job' learning time within your working week which will support your studies – this will include workshops, experience in different nurseries and rooms, and mentoring sessions.

We will need to obtain suitable references and an enhanced DBS check for suitable applicants prior to employment commencing.  You will also need to evidence your right to work in the UK and, if you hold maths and English qualifications, you will need to evidence these qualifications too.  If your application is successful, our Recruitment Team will be there to support you through our onboarding process, every step of the way.

If invited to an interview, the nursery manager will ask a variety of questions and ascertain which level of apprenticeship is most suited to you.

Benefits

As a thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to making Acorn a safe, nurturing and fun place for our children to be, we offer:

• Payscales that are competitive, transparent and reviewed annually
• 65% Childcare discount 
• Generous family leave 
• Christmas closure - with paid holiday for this in your second year of employment (3 days)
• 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays (and the option to buy more
• 4 dedicated training days and individual development plans 
• Enhanced pension scheme 
• Cyclescheme 
• Techscheme
• Length of Service awards 
• Summer and Christmas parties
• Pay advances
• Employee assistance wellbeing programme