EDUC - Early Years Practitioner

Early Years Practitioner

Service: Early Years
Grade scale: Grade 2 level 3
Reports to: Early Years Team Leader

Purpose of the job

To work as an effective member of an Early Years team delivering a high-quality child service which meets the needs of children and their families.

Key tasks and responsibilities

To be responsible for planning and implementation and effective delivery of relevant high quality curricular programme which meets the needs of individual children in line with local and national standards.

Responsibility for observing, assessing, recording and reporting on individual children’s learning and development in line with national and local guidance and pre-determined policies and procedures to ensure the delivery of an effective early years learning.

To work with children and families, and other professional agencies to provide the best possible outcomes for children and ensure that highest quality of early learning and childcare.

Person specification

Criteria Essential Desirable
Education, qualification and training

You must hold one of the following qualifications:

  • NNEB
  • HNC Childhood Practice
  • SVQ 3 Children's Care Learning and Development
  • SVQ 3 Early Years Care and Education
  • SVQ 3 Social Services (Children and Young People)

Any other recognised qualification under Scottish Social Services requirements
Skills, knowledge, experience

Experience working in an early years environment

  
Personal qualities
  • Commitment to ongoing professional development
  • A genuine commitment to behaving with honesty and openness, treating people consistently, fairly and with respect
  • Inclusive and supportive team player
  • To work in a flexible, adaptable manner and to always act with discretion and tact
  
Other

It is a requirement of this post that after taking up your appointment you commence registration with the Scottish Social Services Council within 3 months. Thereafter you must maintain your registered status.

  

Safer recruitment checks

As part of our approach to good practice and safer recruitment we carry out a number of pre-employment checks

  • Asylum and Immigration right to work in the UK
  • Reference check: external candidates require 2 references, one of which must be from present to most recent employer; Internal candidates require 1 reference from current line manager
  • Candidate Disclosure Scotland check, where applicable

Behaviour framework

The council’s behaviour framework is a set of core behaviours that defines how employees approach work to enable the delivery of key tasks for the role. The expected behaviours for this role are:

Efficient

  • Punctual and conscientious in your approach to work
  • Use council resources efficiently, avoiding waste and unnecessary expense
  • Identify inefficiency in processes and communicate this to your manager
  • Meet deadlines and targets in your day-to-day work
  • Understand the impact of wasteful behaviours on the environment and you act to minimise this impact
  • Use of information technology to achieve best outcomes

Flexible

  • Willing to learn new tasks and accept new ways of working
  • Willing to be flexible in your approach to work to meet changing service delivery needs, deadlines, and urgent priorities
  • Help team members when they have urgent deadlines and prioritise your work accordingly
  • Understand the need for change and are open to this across your working life

Performing

  • Is polite, professional and friendly to customers and apply customer care standards and attitudes at all times
  • Works safely to maintain the safety of yourself and other raising concerns about unsafe working practices
  • Meets standards of work required in your role in terms of quality and output
  • Uses initiative to solve problems and raise potential issues
  • Acknowledges when mistakes are made and learns from them
  • Seeks feedback on your performance to learn and improve

Working with others

  • Works alongside internal and external colleagues to meet common objectives
  • Has professional relationships with colleagues and is aware of dignity at work standards
  • Actively and respectfully listens to people in order to understand them and their views
  • Contributes appropriately to team and other meetings and discussions
  • Presents words and views clearly in a way that other people find meaningful
  • Respect diversity and promote equality of opportunity when working with colleagues and members of the public

Leading

  • Role models the standards of behaviours expected of a South Lanarkshire Council employee
  • Displays and enables leadership through sharing knowledge and skills, seeking guidance and providing support to your colleagues, team and the wider community
  • Is aware of and adheres to professional codes of practice and the council’s code of conduct and understand how these impact on employment with the council and public perception of council employees