Nursery Assistant

We are looking for a Nursery Assistant (experience within an Early Years setting and/or level L2 in Early Years desirable) to join our nurseries at the Nursery in Shenley Church End, Milton Keynes. Set in the lovely area of Shenley (2½ miles from Central Milton Keynes), the older children at our Shenley nursery have the amazing opportunity of going swimming once a week. The children are truly part of the Shenley community and take part in a number of community events.

Acorn has recently been awarded a 'Top 20 Nursery Group 2024' Award by Day Nurseries in recognition of its high customer reviews over the last 12 months. We’re proud to be one of the leading childcare providers in Milton Keynes, Northampton and Bedford with over 35 years’ experience who specialise in nature pedagogy and promoting the professional development of our employees.

The role is 32.5 hours per week working between 11.00 and 18.00 Monday to Friday, all year round. You will be rewarded with a competitive salary, great training and progression opportunities, enhanced pension contributions, and 65% childcare discount. As a not-for-profit organisation, Acorn always puts the needs of the children first, meaning you will be working for a business that cares about more than just profit. We close our nurseries for four days a year to allow days to train our staff in a variety of subjects. 

We very much welcome candidates that are looking to progress their personal career development.

 Expectations

- To have a good understanding of Acorn’s core values, ethos and policies and ensure these are reflected in practice

- A high-quality provision to support children’s learning across the curriculum 

- To value parents as partners

- For all children to be happy, confident, self-assured and independent

- Effective communication with management, staff, children and parents

- To role model outstanding practice and positive behaviour management

- Be willing to work towards level 2 or level 3 in childcare

The ideal candidate will be passionate, motivated and enthusiastic about outdoor learning and creative play, as well as a good working knowledge and practice of the EYFS and safeguarding procedures. 

Successful applicants must be able to provide ‘right to work in the UK’ documentation, provide two satisfactory references and undertake an enhanced DBS check prior to commencing employment.

Benefits

Working at Acorn

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 
• 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