Early Years Alliance
Apprentice Early Years Assistant
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About The Role
We have a fantastic opportunity for two Apprentice Early Years Assistants to join our team at Ladybirds Nursery in Runcorn. Rated Good by Ofsted and 9.8 on Day Nurseries.
We are looking for an Apprentice Early Years Assistant who will offer our children high quality inclusive early years education and care.
We take great pride in being a friendly, inclusive setting that puts children and their families at the heart of our practice and provides excellent promotion and progression opportunities for our staff team.
If you are excited about building a career in the early years and passionate about supporting children’s learning and development through inclusive play this is the role for you.
Working in the early years really is one of the best decisions you will ever make, and we can’t wait to be part of your career journey!
Ladybirds Nursery
Located within Halton Lodge Family Hub, Ladybirds Nursery offers high-quality early education and care in a warm, inclusive environment.
Our nursery features three bright, spacious and thoughtfully-designed rooms for babies, toddlers, and pre-school aged children, providing age-appropriate environments that support children’s development at every stage. Our experienced early years educators build strong, nurturing relationships with children and families, helping every child to feel safe, valued and confident in their learning.
Learning at Ladybirds is rooted in play and shaped by children’s interests. Our indoor spaces are carefully resourced to encourage exploration, imagination and social development, supporting children to communicate, build friendships and develop independence.
These experiences are complemented by our remarkable outdoor environment, which offers rich opportunities for physical development, curiosity, and learning through nature – enabling children to engage in outdoor play and discovery throughout the year, whatever the weather.
What We Offer
We are proud to be part of the Early Years Alliance family of early years settings. Founded over 60 years ago, the Alliance is an educational charity dedicated to supporting the delivery of quality early years education and care to children and families.
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The Alliance prides itself on being a supportive workplace and offers significant benefits for our team members including:
- Level 2 and 3 Early Years Apprenticeship programmes
- Extensive training and career progression planning, including access to our Learning Management System (LMS)
- The Alliance has invested in FAMLY reducing paperwork and giving you more time to focus on the children.
- 100% discount on childcare places
- A generous workplace pension scheme
- 25 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays, with additional annual leave for long service.
- Birthday leave so you can have a day off for your birthday dedicated to you and your well being
- Enhanced sickness pay and paid bereavement leave
- A Recruitment Referral Payment Scheme, giving you an introductory payment of up to £300 if someone you have referred to the Alliance takes up a role in the charity.
- Access to our Employee Assistant Programme (EAP), which includes 24/7 helpline access, dedicated managers helpline, confidential counselling sessions delivered by accredited specialists, legal, debt and life management advice, discounts, and wellbeing content plus resources.
- A dedicated mental health First aider to support your mental well being
Job Purpose And Duties
We are all about delivering inclusive play and learning opportunities for all children in a safe, stimulating, and enjoyable environment, while providing you as an apprentice with the learning opportunities you need.
In This Role, You Will Learn
- how to meet children’s social, emotional, physical, and intellectual needs by providing stimulating and age-appropriate play and learning opportunities in the setting.
- how to supervise the children where appropriate and to protect them from dangerous or harmful situations, with the support and guidance of senior staff.
- how to contribute to a high level of care that will enhance the children’s general health and wellbeing,
- how to carry out observations of children, discuss the progress of children with the key person and contribute any ideas to informal and formal planning sessions.
- how to be aware of any special needs a child may have and to familiarise yourself with relevant play and learning plans.
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Your Responsibilities Will Also Include
- working with colleagues to provide a fun and engaging outdoor activities to cover all areas of the children’s development
- preparing healthy snacks, set up and clear away mealtimes and support children during mealtimes.
- attending and contributing to your feedback sessions.
- attending and contributing at regular staff/team meetings.
- sharing any child protection concerns immediately with the Designated Safeguarding Lead or their deputy.
- adhering to our code of practice on confidentiality.
Desirable Requirements
- Good written and verbal communication
- GCSE grade D or 3 in English and Maths or functional skills level 1
- Ability to work using own initiative and work as part of a team
- Good customer awareness
- Experience of dealing with young children
But first and foremost, we are after someone with a genuine willingness to learn and a friendly, flexible approach, so if that sounds like you, please get in touch!
Hours per week: 32.5
Weeks per year: 52
Virtual interview date: W/c - 24/08/2026
Please note our virtual interviews take place via Microsoft Teams, so you may need to download this ahead of your interview.
Notes/Brief For HR Recruitment
About The Service
To find out more information about Ladybirds Nursery, please visit the website: https://nursery.eyalliance.org.uk/nursery/ladybirds-nursery/
The Alliance is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and equal opportunities in employment. It is a requirement of all staff that they share this commitment and follow the prescribed policy and procedures to continuously promote a culture of safeguarding and equal opportunities across the whole organisation.
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