Blackstone Recruitment are currently working with a local authority in Essex who are looking to recruit a locum ACL Pre-school Area Manager.
Please see below the details:
Adult Community Learning (ACL) is a provider of lifelong learning experiences for Essex residents. ACL offers Pre-school places to children of learners via multiple pre-schools across North and Mid Essex, as a means of overcoming barriers to adult learning, and to children within its local community. The settings are registered with Ofsted and rated as Good.
This role will ensure the smooth running of the day-to-day business and people management of the settings. They will strive to become a flagship of good practice for the sector. The focus of this role is to ensure a child centred environment with high standards of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual education and care for all children in the settings. The postholder will supervise, support, and lead the professional development of pre-school staff regarding the standards of quality and practices required by EYFS and Ofsted, acting as the Ofsted nominee. They will lead and support the setting managers in having better oversight, direction, and performance any ensures all settings can achieve and exceed their experiential and financial/commercial expectations.
They will be responsible for driving the review of the pre-school business models to implement a sustainable Preschool business for each setting, through both knowledge and understanding of the early years sector and the effective management of finances and staffing ratios in relation to the occupancy levels.
Accountabilities
· Responsible for undertaking regular visits to the settings to provide leadership, practical advice, support and guidance to the setting managers and teams to ensure the highest quality early years provision is in place.
· Accountable for ensuring the development, implementation and maintaining a financially sustainable business model that meets both the Ofsted regulatory requirements and ECC financial requirements and vision.
· Accountable for overseeing and ensuring the management quality and performance of operational aspects of the settings, including, health and safety, safeguarding, setting management, administration, CPD and Training. Overall accountability for overseeing the quality, monitoring, assessment, and development of the settings.
· To support setting managers, establish, develop and maintain highly professional working relationships with relevant Local Authority Departments, regulatory bodies and other agencies, for example Health Visitors and Special Education Needs (SEN) services and schools to develop high quality service delivery.
· Engage in proactive efforts to enhance teamwork and cultivation of an environment of transparent and open communication across the settings and across the broader Essex County Council, to enable a consistent and viable business and operational model.
· Accountable for overseeing and leading the quality assurance of the settings so that reflective practice and a self-evaluative culture drives improvement.
· Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
Skills, Knowledge, and Experience
· Qualified at least to Level 6 in Early Years or related subject, with a minimum 5 years’ experience working at Nursery Manager level or above.
· Extensive knowledge of the Early Years sector, the EYFS framework and experience of delivery of successful outcomes in Ofsted inspections. Show strong understanding and knowledge of relevant Safeguarding and Compliance frameworks.
· Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area
· Sound knowledge and understanding of the factors that lead to improvement in positive outcomes for pre-school aged children.
· The ability to identify priorities and meet outcomes to work effectively at a senior managerial level under a variety of circumstances and develop skill within the role.
· Confident to provide clear financial leadership to the pre-schools.
· Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to produce reports to inform strategic planning.
· Energetic and enthusiastic with a can-do attitude and a real focus on EYFS and customer service.
Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.
To apply for this position, please contact Kirsty Chasmer on 0203 146 9848