Key Group Leader

Due to our continued Early Years success and increasing pupil numbers we have a Key Group Leader role in our 'Little Crofters'.

The Croft Preparatory School is an independent co-educational day school for children from 3 to 11 years old, situated in a beautiful 30-acre site, in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, on the outskirts of Stratford upon Avon.

Our Early Years classes are Little Crofters ‘Butterflies’, Little Crofters ‘Pre-school’ and Reception.  This role is based in Little Crofters. 

Children can join our school from the day of their 3rd Birthday.  They begin their learning journey in ‘Butterflies’ where they are nurtured and supported in the transition from home to school, attending a minimum of two morning sessions. 

Children move into our ‘Pre-school’ classroom for the academic year of their 4th Birthday.  Pre-school offers a wealth of new, challenging learning opportunities in a more structured learning environment. Our spacious, open-plan classroom with free-flow access to our adjacent all-weather outdoor area ensures children have exciting learning opportunities. 

Children attend for a minimum of five morning sessions to experience a careful blend of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Weekly visits to the School's Sports Hall enable exciting opportunities for gymnastics, games and dance. Children also benefit from weekly French, Music and Forest School sessions led by specialist School staff and a visit to the Pre-Prep library.

Group leaders in Pre-school ensure each child makes firm foundations in their individual learning adventure.   

The whole school was inspected by ISI in June 2015, and was awarded Outstanding in all areas.  The latest inspection reports are available at the following link http://www.isi.net.schools/7110/ 

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Interviews: w/c 7 June 2021

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Teach across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage

• Develop schemes of work and activity planning in line with Croft curriculum objectives

• Take responsibility for the progress of a Key Group of Little Crofters (Pre-Reception) age pupils

• Facilitate learning by establishing a relationship with pupils and by organising learning resources and the classroom learning environment creatively

• Plan, prepare and present activities and learning opportunities that cater for the needs of the whole ability range and encourage mastery level development for all

• Motivate pupils with enthusiastic, imaginative presentation of activities which appeal to the children’s interests

• Maintain discipline and promote good behaviour at all times

• Prepare pupils for the transition to full time compulsory schooling

• Meet requirements for the ongoing assessment and recording of pupils' progress 

• Provide feedback to parents on pupils’ progress at Parents' Evenings and other meetings 

• Coordinate and lead activities and resources, both indoors and outdoors,  within a specific area of the EYFS curriculum and support colleagues in the delivery of this designated specialist area, as required 

• Work with others to plan and coordinate the work of the Early Years provision as a whole

• Stay up to date with changes and developments in the EYFS

• Enter wholeheartedly into the life of the School, supporting colleagues and parents for the benefit of our pupils; including School events and activities which may take place at weekends or in the evening, as required 

• Liaise with colleagues and work flexibly

• Attend Parents Evenings, meetings, training and external courses, as required

• Contribute to, and be supportive of the School’s Improvement Plan and take accountability for identified areas of development

This list of responsibilities is not exhaustive and the employee may be required to perform duties outside of this brief as is operationally required and at the discretion of the Headteacher.

Tour of the School

We would usually welcome applicants to have a tour of the school and grounds as part of the pre application process.  However, as I am sure you will understand, we are being highly vigilant with our COVID-19 procedures and therefore are limiting the number of people on site.  This is for the safety of our whole school community; pupils, staff and parents.  Therefore it is not possible to give every potential applicant a tour and we want to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently.  We are sorry to disappoint you but we hope that you will understand that the current environment prohibits us from offering this to our applicants.

Although it is not the same as looking around the school, please have a look at our website.  Hopefully you will be able to get a feel for our ethos and learning environment.

We understand that the fit of the school has to be right and it is just as much a decision for you to make as it is us.  Therefore if you are successfully shortlisted you will be offered a tour of the school as part of the selection process.