Early Years Advisor

This role has a starting salary of £34,356 per annum based on a 36 hour working week.

We are excited to be hiring four new Early Years Advisors to join our fantastic Early Years Educational Effectiveness Team.

The team is based in Fairmount House, Leatherhead and the role will entail hybrid working which includes supporting early years providers across the county, working remotely and working from any of the Council's offices.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

We are striving to be an inclusive and welcoming employer providing you with access to opportunities that support you professionally and fulfil you personally.

About the Team

The Early Years Educational Effectiveness Team sits within Surrey County Council's 'Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture' directorate. The team provides support and challenge to a range of early years providers including full daycare, pre-schools, maintained nurseries, childminders and out of school provision to promote quality improvements and maintain high quality provision.

The Early Years Effectiveness Team also supports owners and managers with recruitment and retention of staff and provides advice and guidance on suitable qualifications in line with Department for Education requirements.

About the Role

As an Early Years Advisor you will provide support and challenge to early years providers including full day-care, pre-schools, nursery classes, maintained nursery schools, childminders and out of school provision to promote quality improvements and maintain high quality provision. You'll also provide advice and guidance on quality of provision and the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage as well as supporting setting to meet Ofsted requirements and those of other relevant legislation.

You will act as mentors and role models to settings in Surrey, providing training, advice, support and challenge to early years managers, practitioners and childminders.

You will be allocated a specific geographic area although Advisors will travel county wide as and when needed to support the local authority to meet its statutory duty to provide sufficient high quality early education and childcare places.

You'll report to the Senior Early Years Advisor in your allocated area and will liaise with both internal and external professionals to ensure that the Effective Family Resilience Model in Surrey is fully embedded in early years provision.

Shortlisting Criteria

We are looking for a dynamic, resilient and innovative individual to join our highly motivated and effective team.

As part of your application, you will be asked to upload a CV and answer the following 5 questions:

• Please can you tell us what full and relevant Early Years qualifications you hold?
• Please tell us about, and provide examples of, your experience of working with children 0-2yrs, 2-3yr and 3-5 years.
• Please tell us about your experience of leading and supporting early years staff
• Please describe a time when you have managed or taken the lead on the development of a project or training
• Please tell us about a time you constructively challenged others in a multi-agency environment to ensure requirements are met

In order to be considered for shortlisting for this role, your CV and answers to the above application questions will clearly evidence the following criteria:

• Level 6 or above in Early Education and Childcare with full and relevant Level 3 in Early Years Education and Childcare
• Experience of front line delivery of early years education
• Experience and expertise in at last one area (i.e. training, Ofsted, practice, childminding)
• Strong knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and Ofsted inspection framework and Sound knowledge of safeguarding procedures
• Experience of leading and supporting others
• Knowledge of child development and experience of practice across the birth to five years age range
• You will need the willingness and ability to travel extensively around the county to meet the demands of this role

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 07/05/2024 with interviews to follow.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.