Nursery Section/Room Leader in Newport

The Role

As Section/Room Leader, you will take day-to-day responsibility for your room, providing hands-on leadership to a small team of practitioners and ensuring every child receives high-quality care and learning in line with the Curriculum for Wales. You'll act as a key worker, plan and lead engaging play-based activities, support and guide colleagues, and build warm, trusted relationships with the children and families in your room. It's a brilliant next step for an experienced practitioner ready to take on more responsibility, within a nursery built around our six guiding principles.

Key Responsibilities

Leading the Room

• Take day-to-day responsibility for the organisation, routines and ratios within your room.
• Act as a positive, hands-on role model, working directly with children throughout the day.
• Support the Deputy Manager and Nursery Manager in the smooth daily running of the setting, escalating any concerns promptly.
• Help prepare your room for CIW inspections and contribute to self-evaluation and improvement planning.

Quality of Care & Early Learning

• Plan and deliver a stimulating, play-based curriculum in line with the Curriculum for Wales, tailored to the ages and stages of the children in your room.
• Act as key worker for a small group of children, carrying out observations, assessments and next-steps planning.
• Champion imaginative, child-led play and each child's individual progress, in keeping with our Creative and Growth principles.
• Support smooth settling-in and, where relevant, transitions between rooms or to school.

Supervising & Supporting Room Staff

• Provide day-to-day guidance and informal mentoring to practitioners, students and apprentices within your room.
• Allocate tasks fairly and help new starters settle into the team and understand nursery routines.
• Feed back to the Deputy/Nursery Manager on staff performance, training needs and any concerns.

Compliance & Safeguarding

• Follow and help embed the All Wales Child Protection Procedures and Little Inspirations' safeguarding policies within your room.
• Maintain accurate records for your room: registers, observations, incident/accident logs and daily diaries utilising our nursery app.
• Carry out and act on risk assessments for your room and any outings.
• Follow health & safety, hygiene and National Minimum Standards requirements at all times.

Parent & Family Partnership

• Build strong, trusted day-to-day relationships with parents and carers in your room, including handovers and learning journey updates.
• Communicate children's progress, wellbeing and any concerns promptly and sensitively.
• Support show-rounds and settling-in visits for prospective families where needed.

Person Specification

Essential

• A relevant Level 3 qualification in Children's Care, Play, Learning and Development recognised by Social Care Wales (e.g. WJEC or City & Guilds Level 3).
• Experience working with the relevant age group in a day care/nursery setting.
• Working knowledge of the Curriculum for Wales and the National Minimum Standards for Regulated Childcare.
• Willingness to undergo an Enhanced DBS check (or hold one registered with the DBS Update Service).
• Paediatric First Aid certificate (or willingness to obtain).
• Good communication, organisational and team-working skills.
• Genuine commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
• Basic IT/administrative competency for record-keeping.

Desirable

• Previous experience as a key worker or in a room leader/senior practitioner capacity.
• Experience mentoring students, apprentices or less experienced staff.
• Working towards or holding a Level 4/5 qualification in Leadership and Management.
• Welsh speaker, or a willingness to learn/develop Welsh language skills.
• Food Hygiene certificate.

Skills & Personal Attributes

• Warm, patient and nurturing with children, and a positive role model for the room.
• Genuine passion for imaginative, child-led and outdoor play.
• Confident communicator with parents, carers and colleagues.
• Reliable, flexible, and a good team player.
• A reflective practitioner, keen to develop your own skills and support others.

Hours, Salary & Benefits

• Full-time, permanent position – 37.5 hours per week Monday–Friday.
• Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience and qualifications.
• Ongoing funded training and support to work toward higher-level qualifications.
• A clear route to progress toward Deputy Manager within an award-winning, nursery group.
• A friendly, supportive team culture built around our Inclusive, Partnership, Environment, Community, Creative and Growth principles.
• Benefits: Company pension scheme, discounted childcare, wellbeing support, branded uniform

Safeguarding

Little Inspirations is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff to share this commitment. This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references, and safer-recruitment pre-employment vetting.