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Head of Nursery (Term Time Only)

Head of Nursery (Term Time Only)

Holmewood House School

Kent

  • £22,500 - £26,500 per year
  • Quick apply
  • Expired
Salary:
Generous employer contributory pension, free parking, term-time working and free lunch/refreshments
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
Immediate
Apply by:
12 December 2022

Job overview

Holmewood House is a prestigious independent Prep School of 440+ pupils aged 3-13 years, set amidst 30 acres of the most beautiful Kent countryside, just outside Tunbridge Wells. The School is a happy and supportive working environment, where we pride ourselves on the exceptional provision for our pupils and staff in all areas.

Holmewood House provides a broad, well-balanced curriculum with outstanding teachers in what is very much a family school where the positive relationships between the teachers and children allows staff to get to know and understand the individual needs of each and every child. They foster their talents and nurture their growth through a challenging and exciting curriculum.

The school wholeheartedly believes that emotional and social well-being, self-esteem, happiness and confidence are of prime importance and are in themselves inextricably linked to academic progress. Staff are excited by the curiosity and thirst for learning that each child, regardless of their ability, naturally displays. They work hard to allow each child to ask why, to query and to have the time to develop their thoughts into fresh discoveries and innovations and, in doing so, overcome the challenges faced. The end result is the celebration of learning – a reward in its own right!

This position offers the opportunity to lead and develop our strong and successful Pre-Prep Nursery, leading and supporting a team of enthusiastic and dedicated colleagues. You will be passionate about the provision for the youngest children in our school and will champion their development and successes. You will take pride in embodying our school values; Aspiration, Kindness and Self-Belief and consider outdoor education of equal relevance and value to that taking place indoors. You will understand the importance of building lasting relationships with the children and their families as they begin a long and happy journey through Holmewood House.

Key responsibilities and duties:

  • Overall management and leadership of the Nursery.
  • To lead in the educational and social development of pupils under the direction of the  Head of EYFS, Head of Pre-Prep, Head of Learning Strategies and the Head Teacher of Holmewood House.
  • The Manager must provide effective day to day leadership of the Nursery and Pre-Nursery. Proven experience of leading a team of Nursery practitioners is critical to this role.
  • The Manager must plan an exciting and dynamic curriculum that reflects any recent changes to the EYFS framework.
  • The Nursery Manager must have a proven record of using technology to support the learning of the children and ensure this is used with staff to maximise efficiency and operational effectiveness in the Nursery.
  • To ensure at all times the Nursery's interior and exterior supports a safe, secure, stimulating and welcoming environment.
  • To endeavour to give every child the opportunity to reach their potential and meet high expectations.
  • To share the responsibility for pastoral care of the children.
  • To attend relevant staff meetings and participate in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as identified in appraisal and annual reviews.
  • To cover for absent colleagues as directed by the Head of Pre-Prep and Head of EYFS.
  • To promote professional relationships with staff and parents.
  • To establish and maintain a positive regard towards pupils.
  • To keep abreast of current issues and attend training as necessary.
  • To ensure the Nursery is inspection ready at all times. Ensure your working practices are appropriate to meet ISI standards and EYFS regulations.
  • To represent the Nursery department as a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

This job description is not an exhaustive list of duties and the post holder will be required to undertake any other reasonable duties discussed and directed by the line manager.

Qualifications and Skills

  • Level 3 early years education and childcare qualification or above.
  • Previous experience of working within a Nursery, strong managerial and leadership experience is a requirement for this role.
  • Sound knowledge of child development for children from birth to five years.
  • Willingness to learn and have the energy and passion about the quality of children's care and education.
  • Good communication skills.
  • Knowledge of child protection procedures.
  • Commitment to working effectively with young children and families and other professionals.


Person specification

  • Strong people management skills are required, the successful candidate must be able to lead a team to deliver the best outcomes for the children.
  • Ability to think commercially about the nursery operations and be open to changing the way we do things in the best interests of the children.
  • Be innovative, try new things and challenge norms within the Nursery environment to ensure the best possible learning environment for the children.
  • To work effectively as part of a team and be able to reflect on advice and suggestions made by colleagues and ensure sharing and effective usage of resources to the benefit of the school, department and pupils.
  • To work under the direction of colleagues, as required across the school.
  • Be pro-active and use own initiative where required.
  • To display positive and professional communication skills with both staff and pupils.
  • To be a positive role model towards the Holmewood House community.
  • To support the aims, ethos and values of Holmewood House.
  • The ability to inspire, motivate and support pupils and colleagues.
  • To keep up to date with all Holmewood House policies and the Holmewood House Handbook.
  • To set a good example in terms of punctuality and attendance.
  • To be flexible in approach and support colleagues as required.
  • Be able to exercise discretion and confidentiality at all times.
  • Build positive rapport with pupils and personal warmth to gain the confidence of pupils staff and parents.
  • To respect confidentiality within the Pre-Prep and the Holmewood House community.



Attached documents

About Holmewood House School

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+44 1892 860000

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Holmewood House is a vibrant and thriving Preparatory school located on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. Holmewood House is a non-selective school where, according to our ISI report, “The quality of pupils’ academic and other achievements; and the quality of pupils’ personal development” were both deemed ‘excellent’. We are a busy, welcoming and dynamic school community; our school values of self-belief, aspiration and kindness inform everything we do.

Our beautiful school is set within 30 acres of stunning grounds, equipped with state of the art classroom facilities, a 6 lane, 25m indoor swimming pool and 500 seat theatre, as well as our Learning Hub and Learning Strategies area which are both centrally located within the school to support and enhance our teaching and learning provision for every child.

Our teachers all share a love of the children in their care and all our teachers are Form Teachers or Assistant Form Teachers too, as we believe the pastoral and academic areas of school life as intrinsically linked. We celebrate teachers’ further learning and have supported three different colleagues through two Masters in Education and one MBA respectively in the last two academic years. We welcome colleagues who explicitly connect research with practice and want to bring ideas to the table. Our teachers from all areas of the school can join our Teacher Learner Community, which collaborates to share teaching and learning innovation, research and ideas to support continual development. All teachers have access to in-house drop-in counselling support and in-house coaching, should they wish to work on specific areas of their wellbeing or professional practice. We also have a peer mentoring system in place for both teachers and pupils who are keen for further support and guidance. Many of our teachers volunteer to support pupils and teachers in both these mentoring programs.

We regard these vital preparatory school years as forming the very foundation on which our pupils build their lifelong learning and indeed their lives. We are mindful of the fact that our pupils’ experience of school and of life at this early age will significantly shape the adults that they will become. To this end, we place a strong emphasis on outstanding pastoral care; we nurture the wellbeing of every child to enable them to thrive within an ever changing and fast paced world. We believe ensuring positive mental health in our community is the very foundation of the learning that follows. To this end, our teachers foster the Holmewood House learning behaviours in their lessons and beyond (featured below) so as to develop our pupils’ self-belief, aspiration and kindness, both towards themselves and others. We offer a rich, broad and balanced curriculum and full array of extracurricular sports and activities, to support every pupil in finding their niche and to grow everyone‘s love of learning.

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Applications closed