Pre School Room Leader (The Lodge Day Nursery)

We offer exceptional childcare provision for children aged 3 months to 5 years, in the centre of Ipswich. You will join a team of professional, qualified staff in a caring, supportive setting. The Lodge is easily accessible in the heart of Ipswich. Our attractive buildings offer bright, spacious rooms, a large garden and outdoor environment and we are situated close to Christchurch Park. We work in partnership with families to ensure each child feels safe, secure and has plenty of opportunities to discover new adventures, learn, grow, and thrive. We have four age ranges: Discoverers, Explorers, Adventurers and Pre School and children move onto the next stage at the appropriate time, when they are ready for the next stage in their development. Our specially designed rooms provide the perfect environment for each age range and children always have regular access to our spacious garden and outdoor areas. Our Pre School class has a full-time qualified teacher during term-time to lead on the EYFS curriculum learning outcomes. Our delicious food is locally sourced and cooked on the premises by our own chef. We provide food, selected nappies and milk. The Nursery opens all year round from 7.30am until 6.00pm (apart from one week over Christmas and one week in August). We are thriving, and looking for ambitious nursery professionals eager to grow their own careers, whilst helping us to provide the very best care for our growing numbers of children. We are seeking someone with the relevant experience, skills, qualifications and passion to be our next Room Leader for our Pre School Class. THE ROLE OF ROOM LEADER The Room Leader is a member of The Lodge Day Nursery team (LDN). As an important member of our nursery team, you will help us deliver the EYFS curriculum, ensuring a high standard of physical, emotional, social and intellectual care for all children attending the nursery. You will lead your team of nursery assistants, working closely alongside your colleagues, to provide a stimulating, safe and caring learning environment that is appropriate to the individual needs of the children in our care. Below is a more detailed overview of the Room Leader role at The Lodge Day Nursery.

• To work closely with the Manager, Pre School Teacher and room staff to provide a stimulating, safe and caring learning environment appropriate to the needs of the children in the EYFS.
• To lead the Pre School team to promote the physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the children in The Lodge.
• To work as a member of the LDN team under the direction of the Manager.
• To supervise staff and students in training and maintain a proactive and professional team in the class.
• To maintain staffing levels in the room and advise the Manager when there could be a problem.
• To plan, prepare and set out in an appropriate way, in cooperation with the room team and the EYFS teacher, programmes of work and activities related to the room themes.
• To initiate, facilitate and evaluate age and stage-appropriate programmes of work and activities for groups and/or individuals, for example, story sessions, listening and reading, art and craftwork, computer activities, cooking, music, dance and special needs activities in consultation with the room team.
• To ensure that the materials, equipment and resources are available for groups and/or individuals to undertake planned activities.
• To tidy up at the end of the session and to encourage children to help whenever possible (age appropriate).
• To plan, share and at times to take sole responsibility for groups of children working in areas (both inside and outside) where a variety of activities are made available, facilitating and enabling them by providing appropriate levels of support and interaction.
• To keep careful records of the child's development and progress and share them with parents, the child and other professionals as necessary.
• To encourage the children in self-care, independence, caring for their peers and their environment, and good behavioural standards, setting excellent examples at all times.
• To advise the senior staff of any concerns with regards to children, parents, equipment or with regard to health and safety.
• To maintain and ensure adequate resources are available for activities planned within the room and order new stock when necessary.
• To maintain confidentiality with regards to any information about the children, their families or LDN or School business, including staff matters.
• To take responsibility as required for any activity under the authority and direction of the Manager, for example, visits, group work and maintaining registers.
• To act as a Key Person.
• To pass relevant information to key persons so they can talk to parents as required.
• To attend meetings as and when required.
• To deal appropriately with children's minor accidents and injuries both indoors and outdoors.
• To be vigilant in matters of safety.
• To liaise with the Prep staff (age appropriate) to provide a smooth transition for children into the Reception.
• To keep abreast of current issues and attend training as necessary.
• To be flexible within working practices of the LDN. Be prepared to help where needed, including to undertake certain domestic jobs within the LDN, e.g. preparation of snack meals, cleansing of equipment etc.
• Look upon the LDN as a "whole" assessing where your help can be most utilised and be constantly aware of the needs of children.
• To ensure the setting is a high quality environment to meet the needs of individual children from different cultures and religious backgrounds, and stages of development.
• Work alongside parents/carers of children with SEND to provide full integration in the LDN.
• To ensure each child is collected by someone known to the LDN.
• To maintain the highest levels of safeguarding for all children
What you need to know: You will work for 37.5 hours each week. These are to be worked on Monday - Friday throughout the year on a rota to make sure we maintain our staffing ratios during the nursery opening hours. Your starting salary will be from £26,695.50 per annum (depending on your skills and experience as a Leader) and we review salaries every April. All our appointments are subject to the satisfactory completion of 6 month probationary period. You will have 28 days paid holiday each year (including bank holidays) and a further 5 days as paid time off when the nursery is closed in August (one day) and at Christmas (4 days). Giving a total of 33 days paid time off each year. We should let you know that holiday (usually 4 days) must be taken during the week each year when the nursery is closed in August, and we will let you know the dates well in advance each year. You will be entitled to join our defined contribution pension scheme for support staff (the employer contribution rate is an attractive 10% of your gross pay), and you will receive three times your salary as death in service life cover. You will also join Smart Health, a wellbeing scheme for staff offering 24/7 online GP and mental health support. You will be able to use the School's swimming pool and fitness gym free of charge and you will have a free freshly prepared lunch each day in School (when the school is in session). We also have (limited) free parking available for staff. We encourage you to download the full job description and application form from our website https://www.ipswich.school/vacancies. Completed application forms should be returned by noon on Monday 1 June 2026 to: Director of HR, Ipswich School, 25 Henley Road, Ipswich, IP1 3SG. Please mark the envelope Private and Confidential. You can also email your application to hr@ipswich.school if you prefer. Candidates shortlisted for interview will be advised as soon as possible after the closing date and interviews are likely to be held on Friday 12th June 2026. If we have not been in touch with you by 15th June, then we regret that your application will have been unsuccessful, but we would like to thank you for your interest. PLEASE NOTE Ipswich School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. Having a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining the position. The Ipswich School policy on the recruitment of ex offenders and the Code of Practice relating to the Disclosure and Barring Service are available on request.

Your starting salary will be from £26,695.50 per annum (depending on your skills and experience as a Leader) and we review salaries every April. All our appointments are subject to the satisfactory completion of 6 month probationary period. You will have 28 days paid holiday each year (including bank holidays) and a further 5 days as paid time off when the nursery is closed in August (one day) and at Christmas (4 days). Giving a total of 33 days paid time off each year. We should let you know that holiday (usually 4 days) must be taken during the week each year when the nursery is closed in August, and we will let you know the dates well in advance each year. You will be entitled to join our defined contribution pension scheme for support staff (the employer contribution rate is an attractive 10% of your gross pay), and you will receive three times your salary as death in service life cover. You will also join Smart Health, a wellbeing scheme for staff offering 24/7 online GP and mental health support. You will be able to use the School's swimming pool and fitness gym free of charge and you will have a free freshly prepared lunch each day in School (when the school is in session). We also have (limited) free parking available for staff.