Nursery Teaching Assistant

Are you looking for your next challenge?

Are you an enthusiastic, nurturing and imaginative practitioner who is passionate about Early Years Education? Do you believe that childhood should be filled with curiosity, discovery and wonder, and that every child deserves an exceptional start to their educational journey?

Then join us at Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre, where we believe anything is possible!

The Governing Board of Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre seeks to appoint a caring, enthusiastic and dedicated Teaching Assistant to join our Nursery team, working daily from 8.45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

We are looking for a warm, creative and reflective practitioner who understands the extraordinary importance of early childhood and is passionate about helping young children flourish. The successful candidate will recognise that the earliest experiences of education shape children's confidence, curiosity, relationships and attitudes towards learning, and will be committed to making these experiences exceptional.

We welcome applications from practitioners with experience of working with children within the Early Years Foundation Stage. A secure understanding of early childhood development, the importance of purposeful play and the ability to establish positive, nurturing relationships with young children are particularly important for this role.

The successful candidate will demonstrate high expectations, a flexible and positive approach, and a genuine commitment to providing rich, meaningful and inspiring learning experiences. They will understand that every child develops at their own pace and will be passionate about nurturing children's communication and language, personal and social development, emotional wellbeing, physical development and growing independence.

At Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre, we believe that every child is capable of achieving remarkable things when provided with the right environment, relationships and opportunities.

Our vision is to empower children to become confident, creative and curious learners through an inspiring, inclusive and imaginative education that champions equity, nurtures values, celebrates individuality and prepares every child to thrive in a changing world.

We believe that learning in Nursery should be playful, purposeful and irresistible. Our youngest children deserve a rich and stimulating environment where they have the time and space to investigate, imagine, experiment, create and make sense of the world around them.

We recognise that young children learn through meaningful interactions, carefully planned experiences and opportunities to explore independently. Our approach balances sensitive adult guidance with child-initiated learning, enabling children to follow their interests while progressively developing the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that provide the foundations for future success.

Through our Being Me approach, we recognise that every child's developmental journey is unique. We value progress in all its forms, using thoughtful observations and our understanding of individual children to plan experiences that build upon what they already know, understand and can do.

We want our Nursery to be a place where children feel safe, happy, valued and inspired; where their questions are welcomed, their individuality is celebrated and their achievements, however small, are recognised as important steps in their learning journey.

Our team works collaboratively to continually reflect upon and enhance the quality of the experiences we provide. We are ambitious for every child and believe that exceptional Early Years Education is built upon knowledgeable, reflective practitioners who understand the power of relationships, environments and purposeful interactions.

We are a values-based school, and the successful candidate will have the interpersonal skills to model our school's core values within a framework in which everyone is ambitious, innovative and inclusive.

Our school

Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre provides an innovative education for children aged 2 to 7 in the east of Luton, close to the Hertfordshire border. We are an oversubscribed and successful two-form entry infant school, admitting 60 children annually, with an Early Years provision that places great importance on providing every child with an exceptional start to their education.

We are extremely well-resourced and place children at the heart of everything we do. Our Nursery provides a nurturing, stimulating and imaginative learning environment where children are encouraged to explore, investigate, collaborate and discover through meaningful interactions and carefully planned experiences.

Our approach to Early Years Education recognises that children are naturally curious, capable and eager to make sense of the world around them. We provide the time, space and encouragement they need to develop their interests, express their ideas, build relationships and become increasingly confident and independent learners.

Our curriculum is thoughtfully structured and sequential, ensuring that children develop essential knowledge and skills progressively throughout their educational journey. Across our Early Childhood Education Centre, our Being Me approach informs the planning of learning opportunities, combining carefully considered adult-led experiences with stimulating environments that encourage independent exploration.

We recognise that the quality of adult interactions is fundamental to children's learning. Through sensitive questioning, modelling, encouragement and purposeful conversation, our practitioners extend children's thinking, enrich their language and support them in making meaningful connections between their experiences.

We value progress in all its forms and understand that every learner's journey is personal. Our approach celebrates individuality, supports emotional wellbeing and nurtures the confidence, resilience and curiosity that children need to embrace new experiences and challenges.

We only recruit people who are passionate about making a difference to children's lives; people who are highly reflective, committed to their own professional development and continually challenge themselves to improve.

Our working relationships are warm, supportive and collaborative, with a relaxed and informal atmosphere built on mutual respect and shared ambition. People love working here; we are welcoming, positive, caring and forward-looking. We have very high expectations of both children and adults.

As a Nursery Teaching Assistant at our school, you will:

• Work in an extremely well-resourced, nurturing and inspiring Nursery environment where children are at the heart of everything we do.
• Make a meaningful difference to the lives of our youngest children and their families, helping to establish strong foundations for future learning and development.
• Create warm, positive and trusting relationships with children, ensuring they feel safe, valued, understood and confident to explore their environment.
• Support the delivery of a rich, ambitious and thoughtfully structured Early Years curriculum that builds upon children's interests, experiences and developmental starting points.
• Help create exciting, playful and irresistible learning opportunities that inspire curiosity, imagination, creativity and a genuine love of learning.
• Recognise the importance of purposeful play, supporting children to investigate, experiment, solve problems, collaborate and make discoveries through first-hand experiences.
• Promote children's communication and language dev