Job Description: Nursery Manager / School Principal

Key Information

Post Title

School Manager

Direct Report

Area Manager

Works with

School Business Manager and Central team personnel - Marketing etc

Line Manages

Room Leaders / Deputies & Thirds in Charge

Progression

Area Manager

Purpose 

To take primary ownership of and responsibility for the execution of our educational and business model at the school in which you are the senior leader, training your staff team to be competent, autonomous leaders in their own right tasked with delivering on the tasks you assign to ensure that your school hits target.

You must, above all else, ensure the school operates in line with our policies and procedures, and delivers on the requirements of the  EYFS Statutory Framework and all supporting compliance requirements from Ofsted and the Department of Education regarding welfare.

Person Specification 

Qualifications & Certificates

• Relevant childcare qualification to level 3 or above; 
• Up to date DBS; Pediatric first aid; safeguarding training (Level 3); Food Hygiene; SEND; Fire Safety; A positive approach to gaining further qualifications and trainings.

Skills:

• People skills - this is a people management role and you will be measured on how effective you are in building leadership and management capacity in your staff teams through room leaders and deputy managerial candidates
• Organisational discipline and diligence - this is about effective time-keeping and project management to stay on task, complete task and communicate the completion of task
• Financial and budget management capability - understanding what your budget is and staying on top of the allocation of resource / sales targets is crucial to the role
• Early Years Educational knowledge and expertise - knowing how to deliver an outstanding, compliant early years provision is the name of the game
• The ability to model, motivate and support staff - this is about setting examples of discipline, organisation, capability, agency and commitment. If the leader cannot do, then the staff team won’t do. So believe in yourself and prove that they can be more than what they are
• Problem-solving skills - school management is as much about proactive, collegiate problem solving as it is about anything else. We want self-starters who can analyse problems, and identify the quickest, most efficient and cost-effective solution available that will negate the problem going forward. We need thinkers and doers, not complainers
• Technologically savvy - we are and intend to become more of a data driven business to capture not just child development but how we are performing and communicating internally and externally. We use a series of apps to measure this so you need to be confident in cloud based management systems to fit in
• Desired – Mandarin

Experience

• At least three years experience working and managing UK childcare settings as a nursery manager or as part of the management team
• Strong track record in (EYFS) high quality early years provision for Ofsted Good rating and above
• Managerial experience in nursery industry in settings of over 40 places (children) aged 6 months to 5
• Training experience required
• Conflict resolution experience - being able to deliver a tough message in a fair way
• Organizing nursery marketing events experience

Person Specification

• Organised and strategic - an ability to maintain and build school improvement plans
• Technologically adept - data driven and keen to audit and drive improvements based on facts not feelings
• Process driven to be in line with reporting lines and corporate compliance
• Clear, consistent and regular communication and reporting - to board directors, staff and parents
• Adaptable, energetic and solutions oriented / problem solver
• Positive and professional - in control of their emotions in a high-stress, complex environment
• High emotional intelligence and empathetic
• Commercial awareness & Sensible on operational spending
• Excellent written and verbal skills in English
• Motivated to work and progress 
• Committed to personal development - we want examples of people who have invested in themselves in their spare time to further their professional development
• Managerial – Strong ability to lead team building and team cohesion
• A positive approach to inclusive practice with children, parents and colleagues