Nursery Practitioner

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Cotton Tails was established back in 1991, giving us over 30 years’ experience as nursery providers. We now have four sites located across Birmingham and Worcestershire. Do we have a location near you?

 DY9 0QN - Hagley

Come and join our team

We know working with children is more than just child’s play, it’s a rewarding and intense role. We understand the need for a thriving team. Take a look at what is on offer for you if you join our company.

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Working Patterns

Our nurseries are open Monday – Friday from 7.30am – 6.00pm.

Excluding bank Holidays.

Our fulltime role is 5 days per week, for a total of

41hrs and 15mins.

Shifts operate between the opening times and are for 9hrs with a 45minute unpaid break. An example shift being 8.00am – 5.00pm.

We will accommodate part time roles wherever possible

A limited amount of term time only roles are available across the company if there is the demand to support fluctuating attendance

Bank staff contracts are available to provide relief for staff holiday and sickness

Overtime is often available (paid at your usual hourly rate)

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Refer a Friend Bonus

We offer a £500 bonus as a thank you to any employee who recommends a friend for a position. This will be payable after the recruit has passed their 13-week probationary period.

The new employee will also receive a £250 bonus after their first year of service.

*terms and conditions apply*

Staff Discount for Childcare

We offer a 25% discount on nursery fees for staff bringing their child / children to our settings. We have specific policies for ‘staff as parents’ which will be issued when you join the team.

Workplace Pension Scheme

Our workplace pension, in partnership with NEST helps our team members save for their future. When eligible we will auto-enrol you, or you can ‘opt in’ at any time. We contribute to your pension pot in line with government rates and you have access to an online account enabling you to view your pension and make additional contributions if you want to.

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Annual Pay

We offer competitive rates in salary above the National Minimum and Living Wage rates. We work on a salary basis meaning you receive a set monthly income (annual salary divided into 12 equal payments).

You are paid on the 1st of the month (or nearest working day after if it is a weekend or bank holiday). We have SAGE online for your payslips giving you the convenience of all pay records in an online account, this also includes your annual P60.

Salaries are reviewed as a minimum once a year.

Parental Leave

We operate within current government guidelines for parental leave, including Maternity /Paternity and Adoption Leave. This journey is different for everyone, and our manager’s will guide you through the process if and when this applies to you.

Compassionate Leave

We all face adverse life events and sometimes need to take time off. Details of our compassionate leave can be found in our contracts

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Holiday

An important part of our year is actually taking time off to regenerate and spend time pursuing hobbies and things we enjoy or just spending time at home with family and friends. Our holiday entitlement grows with your length of service.

0-5 years’ service: 28 Days (20 days per year, plus 8 bank holidays)

5 years+: 29 Days (21 days per year, plus 8 bank holidays)

6 years+: 30 Days (22 days per year, plus 8 bank holidays)

7 years+: 31 Days (23 days per year, plus 8 bank holidays)

Maximum Holiday Entitlement is capped at 31 days

In addition to holiday entitlement, we have shut down period over

Christmas of an additional 3 days – this is not deducted from your annual leave and is given as an end of year bonus.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is a fundamental part of our practice; it forms part of our training programme and staff development throughout the year. You will be guided through our Safeguarding policy and procedure from your very first day.

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Professional Development

Once you are part of the company, we will support your professional development.

You will have an online account with Noodle Now giving you access to hundreds of courses. This will enable you to complete mandatory courses or learn more about specific topics of interest. Your manager will guide you through the training requirements

There are often new roles within the company, or areas of responsibility you can take leadership for; we encourage our team members to grow with us.

We are happy to support staff with career direction, especially to achieve higher qualifications. We have links with local training providers to enable you to achieve the next stage in your qualification.

Apprenticeships - we recruit a number of apprentices across the company, many of whom have been able to stay with us in a fully qualified role.

Employee Performance Report (EPR)

We have devised an EPR system, these are carried out termly and give our employees chance for a one-to-one meeting with their manager, discuss key children, your role and points for development.

In house assessment is an important part of practice to monitor our standards. We conduct in house reviews to support and guide staff. Striving for outstanding

Cotton Tails Nurseries Ltd – Employee Wellbeing

Little Extras

When you join Cotton Tails, you will be provided with uniform.

You will receive 2 branded t-shirts and sweatshirts. We can also provide fleeces at a subsidised cost. We review uniform needs annually as a minimum, but it is available all year to purchase additional.

All of our sites have a designated staff room. So you have your own space to recharge your batteries during a well- earned break. All sites have access to kitchen facilities you can use during your break.

Celebrations

There are many opportunities throughout the year for the staff team to get together. These are organised individually at each site. At Christmas there are celebrations which are funded per head. This is either for the individual setting or the company as a whole.

Get in touch

If you have taken the time to read through our pay and benefits package, then hopefully you are interested in finding out about the roles we have available.

Get in touch today.

Job Type: Full-time

COVID-19 considerations:
COVID risk assessment provided to successful applicant