Early Years Practitioner

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes. Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life‑science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment.

Are you passionate about supporting young children and their families to thrive? We are looking for a motivated, creative, and enthusiastic Early Years Practitioner to join our Start Well team. This is a busy and rewarding role, working across the borough in our Family Hubs and other community venues. You will be responsible for:

• Delivering play and development groups and activities that support children's development and provide essential advice, support, and information for parents.
• Managing a small caseload of families who want one-to-one support, delivered flexibly in a Family Hub or in the family home.

We are looking for someone with a ‘can‑do’ attitude who is committed to building positive, trusting relationships with families. You will have:

• Excellent knowledge of Child Development.
• A strong understanding of Safeguarding procedures and the wider context of Best Start Family Hubs.
• Outstanding communication and listening skills, with the ability to relate to families from diverse backgrounds and help build resilience in others.

We’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work‑life balance, including:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26‑32 days plus bank holidays (pro‑rata if part‑time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave.
• Two volunteering days per year.
• Flexible Working – Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role).
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks.
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses.
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres.
• Interest‑free season ticket loans.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle‑to‑work scheme.
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme.
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under‑represented groups. To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family‑friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda. We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

We are committed to equal opportunities. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, protected characteristic, nationality, or any other protected characteristic.