Nursery Manager
What is the work like?
Nursery managers, also known as nursery officers, are responsible for the day-to-day running and financial management of a nursery. They manage staff and oversee the childcare and education activities provided in their nursery. They aim to give the children who attend the nursery the best possible start in life.
As a nursery manager, you could provide day-care to children aged between three months and five years old, with a range of social, physical, emotional and intellectual needs.
Your duties would include:
- creating a caring and stimulating environment that promotes learning through play
- running the nursery in line with environmental, health and safety and fire safety regulations
- supervising the planning of activities to meet the needs of children
- working in partnership with parents, providing a high standard of customer service including regular parents' evenings
- making sure equipment, such as furniture and toys are in a good state of repair and suitable for children.
Your business responsibilities as a manager would also include:
- recruiting staff who are suitable to work with children, which includes applying for Criminal Records Bureau clearance
- training, supporting and leading a team (including room leaders and assistants), to achieve and maintain high standards
- conducting regular staff assessments, recognising training needs and developing teamwork
- managing a budget and making sure the nursery is profitable
- arranging marketing and publicity events
- administrative tasks, such as providing an area manager with weekly or monthly reports and maintaining staff and child records.
You would work closely with the owners of the nursery (which may be private or local authority owned) to make sure the service you run meets Ofsted National Standards for day-care providers.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
Before you can start work as nursery manager, you will usually need:
- a nursery nursing qualification, such as a CACHE Diploma in Child Care and Education or NVQ level 3 or 4 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development
- a minimum of two years' experience as a qualified nursery nurse
- evidence of continuing professional development
- between one and two years' experience in a supervisory role
- CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) clearance.
Check the Nursery Nurse job profile for more advice on routes into nursery nursing.
As an experienced or senior nursery nurse, you may be able gain supervisory experience by volunteering to mentor and coach newly qualified staff. You could build on this by taking up further opportunities with your employer that allow you, for example, to oversee the running of a room in the nursery.
You could go on to gain a full-time position as a nursery room leader, then deputy manager before ultimately securing work as a nursery manager.
Some small nurseries may prefer to recruit nursery managers who have achieved (or are working towards) the EYPS, Early Years Professional Status. This is a new initiative aimed at raising the quality of learning, development and care provided in early years settings. For more information on EYPS, check the Children’s Workforce Development Council website.
What further training and development can I do?
Once you are practising as a nursery manager, you may be encouraged to work towards a qualification such as:
- NVQ Level 4 in Children's Care, Learning and Development
- CACHE Professional Development Qualifications
- Open University Level 4 Certificate in Early Years Practice
- BTEC HNC/HND in subjects such as Advanced Practice in Work with Children and Families
- a degree or foundation degree in, for example, Early Years Childcare and Education.
You could also work towards Early Years Professional Status (EYPS).
If you are a manager within a SureStart (local authority) children's centre, you could go on to achieve the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL). Check the SureStart website for more information about this sector.
Where can I go for more information?
3rd FloorFriends Provident House
13-14 South Parade
Leeds
LS1 5QS
Tel: 0113 244 6311
St Ann's Square
Manchester
M2 7LA
Tel: 0845 640 4045
Related profiles...
What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Nursery room leaders may earn between £14,500 and £18,000 a year
- Deputy nursery managers can earn around £20,000.
- Nursery managers may earn up to around 32,000.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
Your hours of work are likely to include early starts and late finishes to meet the needs of parents.
Running a nursery can be emotionally, mentally and physically demanding, as well as noisy.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- a commitment to keeping up to date with developments in early years care and education (such as the Early Years Foundation Stage to be introduced September 2008)
- an understanding of the Children’s Act, Health and Safety issues and Ofsted National Standards for day-care providers
- strong written and spoken communication skills
- excellent time management and organisational skills, with the ability to meet deadlines and targets
- an understanding of child protection issues and confidentiality
- leadership skills and the ability to support, develop and motivate staff
- the ability to work with young children and their families in ways which are sensitive, positive and non-judgemental
- business skills and the ability to manage a budget
- an understanding of equal opportunities
- knowledge of the range of ways children learn and develop
- the ability to build good working relationships with relevant agencies, schools and early years practitioners within and beyond your service.
What opportunities are there?
The demand for qualified nursery managers is good in independent, private and local authority nurseries.
For practitioners with EYPS (Early Years Professional Status), job opportunities are set to increase due to the government's commitment that every children’s centre employs an Early Years Professional (EYP) by 2010 and every full day-care setting by 2015. EYPs are seen as critical to raising the quality of early years provision in line with new standards due to come in September 2008. For more information on EYPS check the Children’s Workforce Development Council website.
Jobs are advertised in the national and local press, through specialist agencies' websites, on websites such as Nursery World and Local Government Jobs. You could also contact your Local Authority Early Years Development and Childcare Recruitment Team directly. You will find a list of local contacts on the childcarecareers website.
As an experienced manager, you could go on to set up your own private nursery or crèche (contact Ofsted and the National Day Nursery Association for details). Alternatively, you could progress to area manager, overseeing the work of a number of nurseries, or become an NVQ assessor in childcare.
You could also move into related areas of work, such as nursing, teaching or social work. A qualification such as a Level 3 Diploma in Children's Care, Learning and Development would help you get onto courses for these areas. Check the related job profiles for details.
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