Action for Children
Early Years Practitioner
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Early Years Practitioner.
Salary: £25,949 per annum pro rata.
Contract/Hours: Permanent, Part Time (working 30 hours per week).
Location: Waterside, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Benefits:
- 29 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays pro rata.
- Gain professional qualifications and excellent training/development opportunities.
- Flexible maternity, adoption, and paternity packages
- Pension with up to 7% employer contribution with included life assurance cover
- Staff discounts and Blue Light Card eligibility with 15,000 national retailers discounts.
Vulnerable children in the UK need your help
Wherever you work in the Action for Children family, you'll be helping to change the lives of the most vulnerable children in the UK.
Last year, we helped more than 687,000 children and families across the UK. From direct work in communities to national campaigning, we are focused on making sure every child has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.
Why Action for Children?
Working here is more than a job. Everyone in the Action for Children family is passionate about protecting and supporting children. It's the sense of purpose that drives us every single day. Because we know that, when we work together, we can make a huge difference to bring lasting improvements to vulnerable children's lives.
About the role
Our Waterside SureStart service plays an essential role in giving children and families the early support they need. As a universal service we work in partnership with other agencies such as health visitors, midwives, and local schools.
To help 0–4-year-olds get ready for school our services include: child and family health services; parenting programmes and antenatal support; early year's education services, such as ‘stay and play' sessions; speech and language support and family learning.
Core working hours for the service are usually between Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
How you'll help to create brighter futures
As an Early Years Practitioner, you'll be:
- Working as part of a team within the creche and developmental Programme for 2–3-year-olds to support children's personal, social, emotional, cognitive and SLC skills.
- Using a range of tools to monitor and assess the children's progress and development.
- Providing support within group play sessions as well as undertaking a range of home visits to support with the development of play skills.
- Developing successful relationships with children and their families.
- Observing and tracking children's development and sharing this with parents/ carers and other professionals.
- Being responsible for the planning, development, and delivery of individual and group-based services, which support families in providing their children with the best start in life.
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Let's talk about you
Our job description for the Early Years Practitioner outlines the requirements of the role but the ‘must-haves' are:
- A minimum Diploma Level 2 in Childcare or equivalent relevant qualification.
- Experience of working with children aged under 4 years.
- A genuine interest in childcare and a true passion and love for children.
- A thorough understanding of Child Protection and Safeguarding.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage with people of all ages and backgrounds.
- An understanding of the physical, intellectual, linguistic, social and emotional growth as part of child development.
- Access to a car. The job requires the ability to travel according to the needs of the job, with reasonable adjustments, if required, according to the Equality Act.
Contact:
Email us at recruitmentservice@actionforchildren.org.uk quoting reference 13459.
Closing Date: Thursday 6th August 2026.
Please note: Interviews are planned to be held week commencing 10th August 2026 at Waterside.
Please note we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
There are five sections to complete: Personal Details, CV, Supporting Statement & Information, Equality & Diversity, Submission & Declaration.
To be eligible for this position you must complete an Access Ni Enhanced Disclosure
A copy of the Access Ni Code of Practice can be found here.
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Diversity, equality and inclusion
At Action for Children, we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. We actively encourage applications from Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic and disabled candidates as they are under-represented within Action for Children. We want to take deliberate and purposeful action to ensure equal opportunity to all groups in society and for Action for Children.
Male staff are under-represented within our Children Service roles. We would like to encourage more male applicants for our Children Service roles.
Don't meet every single requirement?
If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with the job description, we'd love you to apply anyway. You might just be the perfect person for this role, or another role within the Action for Children family.
Want to know more about Action for Children?
Find us on Linkedin, Facebook or YouTube to get to know us better.
Job Description [https://actnforchildren.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/Employee_Recruitment_Information/IQAyqehm3X3UR50wrpIwnhJ8AfGLFQpJF_4nDnV5W3zsTBk?e=MPbpDa]
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