Early Years Practitioner

Are you committed to transforming life chances by holding children and young people at the heart of everything you do? Our ambition in Solihull is for all our children and young people to have access to a high-quality inclusive education which empowers them to lead independent and successful lives. We want you to help us make this happen.

We are looking for a part time Early Years Practitioner to join our Early Years Team to support settings to meet the needs of young children. We need people with a real passion and enthusiasm to help shape the future of our services and the lives of young children. Have you supported practitioners in settings to understand the needs of the youngest children, especially in the prime areas? High quality provision is critical as we expand the education entitlement to under 2's.

The Early Years' Service brings together the statutory and non-statutory duties in relation to improving outcomes and reducing inequalities for all young children aged 0-5 into a single team. The service focuses upon building the quality and capacity of early years' providers across the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sector, whilst creating the flexibility to provide an early help offer and higher level of intervention for those children with the most complex needs through support in both homes and their setting.

You will:

• Ensure children in Early Years' achieve positive outcomes in their early education.


• Empower educational settings to develop inclusive practice and environments and confidently support all young children with a range of needs.


• Ensuring individual children have their needs identified early and receive the holistic support they need to respond to these in an appropriate environment.
  
  A relevant professional qualification in early years/education field equivalent to Level 4 or equivalent experience in a relevant field


• Evidence of continual professional development such as a SEND qualification or training in SEND, Early Years training focussing on the needs of young children


• Experience of holistic assessment, planning and review of support for children


• Experience of supporting others and multi-agency working


This is a rewarding role which will challenge you and your ability to support settings and staff, and communicate and explain best practice when supporting implication of the EYFS.

We have an office base in central Solihull within walking distance of shops and local amenities but with the option to work at home when completing visit notes and preparing for visits. Much of your role will be working in early years settings., This post will require a Disclosure and Barring check for regulated activity with children.

This is an essential car user post as the demands of the job make it operationally essential and there is a contractual requirement to make a suitable vehicle available to ensure the requirements of the job can be carried out effectively.

Applicants must be able to drive, have a driving licence and be a car owner/have access to a suitable vehicle, however for disabled applicants, reasonable adjustments will be made where required

This post if covered by the Fluency Duty, as outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers.

About Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Solihull is regarded as a popular and vibrant place to live in the UK. As one of the most prosperous towns in the Midlands, almost two thirds of our borough is designated as green belt. We have over 1,500 acres of parks across the borough, with 16 Green Flag Awards. Solihull is very well connected, with great transport links such as the M40, M42 and M6 all close by, and an excellent rail network, plus, of course, an international airport. We are home to the award-winning Touchwood Shopping Centre, National Exhibition Centre, Resorts World Birmingham, and the Resorts World Arena.

It is an exciting time for Solihull, although we are a relatively small local authority (c. 6000 employees), we still have ambitious plans including the development of UK Central and HS2.

Here at Solihull Council, we want to ensure that all our citizens have an equal chance to share in Solihull's success. We do this by putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

We recognise that our employees are the key factor in achieving our vision and as such, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals, who want to make a real positive difference to people's lives and can help us to continue building on our success.

Both Smarter Ways of Working and Employee Wellbeing are key Council Priorities.

The transition to Smarter Ways of Working has presented us with the opportunity to re-think how and where we work. With the option to access portable technology, dependent upon the requirements of the role, a lot of our people are not bound to a single workplace or traditional ways of working, with many choosing to spend a good proportion of their week working from home.

Our people told us that they value flexibility, and that choice enables them to have a better work-life balance, manage family responsibilities, enhance their personal wellbeing, and continue to deliver excellent outcomes for the residents of Solihull.

Our people are our number one asset, and our aim is to have a healthy, happy engaged and thriving workforce.

Wellbeing is at the heart of our employee offer and we are a bronze accredited West Midlands Combined Authority Thrive at Work employer. This recognises our commitment and action in support of employee wellbeing; we are currently working towards silver accreditation.

Unpaid carers carry out a key role within our community and know that this can be challenging when combined with employment. Our Carer's Policy and the ongoing support we give to our employees has resulted in us winning Employer of the Year 2022 at the Carer Friendly Awards.

We also offer:

• Flexible working, including flexi leave up to 24 days per year


• A comprehensive training and development programme


• Generous annual leave entitlements with opportunity to buy up to 10 days additional leave per year


• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme - a 24 hour independent, free and confidential advice and support service


• Family and carer friendly policies


• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme


• Employee benefits including subsidised travel passes, Cycle 2 Work Scheme and staff discounts., Competitive salaries including, for those at the top of their scale, the opportunity to receive a non-consolidated lump sum;


• A range of flexible working options;


• Annual leave starting at 25 days and rising to 30 days after 5 years' service in addition to public holidays with an opportunity to purchase up to 10 additional days' holiday per year;


• A generous flexitime scheme (available for most roles);


• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme;


• A wide range of learning and development opportunities;


• A range of family friendly policies;


• Employee benefits including subsidised travel passes, Cycle 2 Work Scheme, confidential Employee Assistance Programme and staff discounts.


Solihull Council is proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit.

As users of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who demonstrate they meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

Solihull Council has a responsibility for, and is committed to, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk, and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

For roles eligible for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check this will be indicated in the advert and supporting recruitment documents. Where the post involves working with children, other vulnerable groups or in a position of trust it is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further guidance is available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945449/rehabilitation-of-offenders-guidance.pdf

Please note, where sufficient numbers of applications are received, we reserve the right to close a vacancy before the advertised closing date. We therefore advise that you submit your application as soon as possible.