Nursery Room Leader Job Description

Written by:

Claudio Sisera

Nursery Room Leader Job Description

Written by:

Claudio Sisera

The Nursery Room Leader is a qualified childcare professional with the responsibility for the day to day running of their room. They work as part of the nursery’s management team and perform a significant role caring for children.

Room leaders maintain a high quality, stimulating learning environment, supervise staff members and cascade their knowledge and skills to others. They are creative and reflective leaders able to implement new ideas and use a range of strategies to continually improve practice and support the nursery management team.

What are the Duties and Responsibilities of a Nursery Room Leader?

The duties and responsibilities of a Nursery Room Leader include, but are not limited to:

TEAM WORK

Working flexibly as part of the larger team, assisting and supporting colleagues wherever required, in order to ensure the smooth running of the daily routine.

Supporting the nursery management team in achieving ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ OFSTED ratings.

Being part of a team that provides a purposeful, stimulating environment that is rich in learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors.

With support from the nursery management team, sharing knowledge and experience, delegating tasks appropriately, identifying training needs, leading meetings, inductions and 1:1’s.

Respecting and valuing all colleagues, children and parents, encouraging a positive and diverse working environment.

Co-operating and working effectively with the nursery management team, taking on additional responsibilities/duties and positively implementing new policies and procedures to team members, as well as complying with existing ones.

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

Embracing, understanding and promoting the nursery’s ethos and vision, and the role each staff member plays as part of the team which provides high levels of care and education.

Promoting positive relationships in the early years setting with children, staff, parents and external agencies.

Carrying out key person duties, such as acting as the first port of call for a group of children, setting learning targets for them, and updating parents on their children’s development.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Reinforcing company policies and procedures at all times and deal with any breaches professionally and in a swift manner.

Ensuring high standards of health and safety are promoted in the room.

Ensuring all safeguarding procedures are followed in line with local authority and company procedures.

What will I be doing as a Nursery Room Leader?

As a Nursery Room Leader, reflecting on daily practice and identifying areas for continual improvement will be something you will do on a daily basis. As a result, you will deploy staff and resources effectively, maintaining ratios in your room at all times.

You will ensure that every member of staff in your room tailors practice and routines to meet the individual needs of each child throughout each day. This will mean overseeing all the planning and the provision so that you are providing a stimulating range of age-appropriate activities.

You will also live and breathe Equality & Diversity within your room, challenging any behaviour which does not support inclusive practice and equal opportunities.

As a Nursery Room Leader, you will cover many aspects. We have put together a breakdown of the main duties you will be taking charge for:

Ensuring the environment of your classroom is highly stimulating, and meets all the standards, regulations and guidelines set in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), such as the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning (CoETL).

Ensuring appropriate support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and those who use English as an additional language (EAL).

Communicating openly and effectively with the parents and carers of the children in your care. This includes providing professional feedback about each child’s development and education on a regular basis, such as through a detailed Summative Report.

Ensuring that all relevant information about each child is provided by parents, such as any allergies or special requirements they might have.

Encouraging the members of staff within your room to build positive relationships with parents and carers, and provide advice and support to help them do this.

Maintaining good communication with local authorities and governing bodies that are associated with the nursery setting to ensure a functional and professional relationship.

Keeping all children in your care safe and healthy at all times, by minimising any risks throughout your room and other areas across the nursery. This involves keeping the setting clean and free of danger, with the help of your staff team.

Mastering knowledge on all health and safety policies and procedures that are relevant to the nursery setting. This includes safeguarding, emergency and security procedures. You must also ensure all staff understand any health and safety policies relevant to their role, and that they’re capable of following procedures effectively.

Supervising other staff members within your room, so you’ll need to maintain strong and positive relationships with your team.

Supporting the needs of the nursery staff within your room, and assigning specific tasks whilst providing advice on how to complete these.

Mentoring staff members through training sessions, scheduling their day-to-day duties, and delivering appraisals for their self-development.

Where could I work as a Nursery Room Leader?

As a Nursery Room Leader, you could work for several types of employers, such as nurseries and pre-schools, primary schools, playgroups, crèches and Clych Meithrin. Mudiad Meithrin is the main provider of Welsh-medium early years education and care in the voluntary sector.

Nursery Room Leaders are mostly employed at private nurseries or those attached to schools, but they can also be employed in other institutions such as family centres or hospitals, though no matter the type of organisation, Nursery Room Leaders tend to be still dealing with a lot of the same responsibilities.

The positions are typically full-time, but some employers are open to accept job shares for their room leader vacancy.

Sometimes the position can be specifically hired to focus on children with special educational needs. If a certain specialism is required, employers will include it in the job advert.

What skills do I need to be a Nursery Room Leader?

To be a successful Nursery Room Leader, you’ll need the following skills and attributes:

Great communication skills with both children and adults
Able to build and maintain positive working relationships
Strong leadership skills
A good role model for both staff and children
Readily supportive of others and willing to suggest new ideas and solve problems
Patient and calm in busy, stressful situations

What are the requirements to be a Nursery Room Leader?

To become a qualified Nursery Room Leader, you’ll need a solid understanding of the requirements of EYFS, including how to meet Ofsted standards.

Employers will usually require a relevant Level 3 childcare qualification in Early Years, or above. You can check if you have the relevant qualifications for an early years role on the Government website.

Some employers may also prefer Room Leaders to have Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), which requires a 2:1 degree and is similar to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). While having EYPS is not usually an essential requirement for Room Leader roles, obtaining it can have many benefits for early years educators, such as expanding your knowledge of the EYFS, improving your confidence as a professional, and increasing your employability prospects, especially when it comes to leadership roles.

Finally, most employers will require you to have relevant experience working with children in a nursery setting, and some may also expect prior experience in a supervisory or leadership role.

What is the average salary of a Nursery Room Leader in the UK?

A Nursery Room Leader in the UK earns an average salary of £23,875 a year, reaching up to £28,293 per annum depending on their experience, location and the type of setting they work at.