Job Title: Nursery Assistant
Salary information: £24,169 per annum (pro rata)
Hours: Part time
Closing date: 04 July 2025
Location: Manchester, M13 9WL
Company: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Job type: Permanent
Job reference: 7244731/349-COR-7244731

Job overview

You should have a NVQ level 2 or equivalent in Child Care together with knowledge and understanding of the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) and be able to implement it through observations and planning with a key group of children.
Our staff are encouraged to try and further their skills and qualifications whenever possible. There are plenty of training opportunities in this post relating to child care both from internal Trust courses and courses given by Manchester Council.

First Steps Day Nursery offers a safe and stimulating environment for children aged 6 months to 5 years. All the children’s rooms are fully equipped to cater for all their learning and development needs, including their own changing facilities, toilets and cloakrooms.
The day nursery is presently located within the grounds of the Oxford Road Campus. It is open to children of employees of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The nursery accommodates 89 children and is Ofsted Registered and inspected regularly. Copies of the inspection reports are available from the nursery manager.

The nursery is a purpose built site specifically tailored to the child care services we provide. There is a large outside play area, with a special section where children are encouraged to grow plants. The aim of the nursery is to provide a safe, happy and stimulating atmosphere which reflects the child’s home life. We try to make the nursery as homely as possible.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for an individual who has a caring and sensitive nature to cater for the children’s needs. You should be able to help and encourage the children to explore activities by giving them opportunities and choices to further develop their experiences. A friendly and supportive approach is needed. You will work as part of the nursery team providing care for the individual child and groups of children in accordance with the current nursery policies. You will also provide each child with affection, stability and security and will help the nursery nurses provide a happy, stimulating atmosphere that will enable the child to achieve his/her potential.

The post holder will be required to care and educate the children in your care. To be knowledgeable about and promote learning of the curriculum of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Working for our organisation

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trust In England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We’re creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 28,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you’ll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We’ve also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We’re proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What’s more, we’re excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the ‘Supporting Documents’ heading.   So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the ‘Candidate Essentials Guide’ that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification.  This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how ‘we care for you as you care for others’.  Most importantly, it also contains critical information you’ll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not currently a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, there is helpful advice and information available by searching on the ‘NHS England’ website where you can also find out more about how to access the vaccination.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post.  As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you.  If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at resourcing@mft.nhs.uk.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NVQ Level 2 in Childcare, or equivalent

Desirable criteria

• Willing to undertake NVQ Level 3 in Childcare or equivalent experience

Experience

Essential criteria

• Recent experience of work in a nursery in a similar role

Desirable criteria

• Recent experience of working in a hospital based nursery
• Experience of the key person system

Knowledge and Skills

Essential criteria

• Good verbal communication skills
• Effective customer care skills.
• Understanding of the importance of equal opportunities in the workplace.

Desirable criteria

• Familiar with the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Personal Attributes

Essential criteria

• Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.
• Record of good attendance and timekeeping
• Appropriate appearance.
• Commitment and ability to act in a professional manner

Desirable criteria

• experience of child care

Work Based Assessment

Essential criteria

• Experience of planning activities

Desirable criteria

• Ability to plan and implement effective activities and evaluate them.

How to Apply;

Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online for this job