Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner apprenticeship
ACTIVE ANGELS LTD
SOLIHULL (B90 4BY)
Closes in 22 days (Monday 20 April 2026 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 27 March 2026
Contents
Summary
This Level 5 apprenticeship develops early years practitioners into proactive, reflective leaders. Suitable for roles like Room Leader or Deputy, it builds leadership, teamwork, and professional enquiry skills, enabling practitioners to improve practice and drive high-quality outcomes for children.
- Wage
-
£16,640 to £26,436.80, depending on your age
National Minimum Wage
- Training course
- Early years lead practitioner (level 5)
- Hours
-
Monday - Friday, 7.30am - 5.30pm
40 hours a week
- Start date
-
Saturday 25 April 2026
- Duration
-
2 years
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
What the role is
An Early Years Lead Practitioner (EYLP) apprentice is a more advanced childcare role (usually Level 5) where you:
- Help lead practice in a nursery or early years setting
- Support children’s learning, development, and wellbeing (0 - 8 years)
- Work alongside staff and sometimes guide less experienced practitioners
Key responsibilities:
Planning and leading learning activities (play-based learning)
Supporting children’s:
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Social and emotional skills
- Observing and assessing children’s progress
- Creating a safe, inclusive environment
- Working with parents, carers, and professionals
- Supporting and mentoring other staff members
- Running group activities (story time, outdoor play, crafts)
- Monitoring children’s progress and updating records
- Supporting routines (meals, hygiene, naps)
- Leading part of the room or curriculum area
- Communicating with parents at drop-off/pick-up
Where you'll work
TANWORTH LANE
SHIRLEY
SOLIHULL
B90 4BY
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
THE CHILD CARE COMPANY (OLD WINDSOR) LIMITED
Training course
Early years lead practitioner (level 5)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Advocate for children through their child centred approach, listening to the voice of the child; ensuring children’s rights, views and wishes are heard, respected and acted upon at all times. Offer appropriate support and influence decisions in the best interests of the child.
- Develop, model and implement strategies to support the emotional, social, psychological, physical and cultural needs of all children within the educational setting.
- Support and promote children’s diverse speech, language and communication development and determining and adapting appropriate responses and interventions to support verbal, nonverbal interactions and engagement with written communication.
- Support children to engage in a range of learning contexts such as individual, small groups and larger groups as appropriate for their play and support confidence within social experiences.
- Engage in effective strategies to develop and extend children's learning and thinking, including sustained shared thinking.
- Promote, model and support children and families to develop a healthy approach to making choices relating to personal care including eating, sleeping and physical activity.
- Analyse and articulate how all children’s individual learning can be affected by their current developmental capabilities, characteristics and individual circumstances taking into account all factors contributing to typical and atypical development.
- Ensure plans fully reflect the individual development needs and circumstances of children and actively participate in the provision of consistent care, responding quickly to the needs of the individual child.
- Plan, carry out and guide appropriate personal care routines for individual children.
- Competently action and carry out safeguarding procedures, using their professional curiosity, knowledge, insight and understanding.
- Explore and understand, challenge and question; knowing when to act to safeguard and protect children.
- Encourage all children’s participation, ensuring a sensitive, respectful and effective balance within the adult and child dynamic to facilitate play opportunities.
- Ensure staff are deployed effectively to suit and enhance the learning environment, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of all children.
- Cultivate professional partnerships with parents, carers, colleagues and other professionals, presenting their understanding of the child’s journey within multidisciplinary teams to holistically support the child’s individual needs.
- Demonstrate the importance of the home learning environment, developing an effective and collaborative partnership to enhance opportunities for the child.
- Provide a dynamic, evolving and enabling environment that reflects the current interests, motivations, and play of individual and groups of children.
- Use current and contemporary knowledge, research, theories and approaches to develop, enhance and articulate their own pedagogical approach and practice.
- Observe, assess, plan, facilitate and participate in play opportunities which include current curriculum requirements.
- Make use of formative and summative assessment, tracking children’s progress to plan for future learning possibilities including early interventions based on individual developmental needs.
- Take responsibility for supporting the key person in articulating children's progress and planning future learning possibilities including the safe use of digital technology to communicate effectively in both oral and written English.
- Promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
- Be a leaderful practitioner to support, mentor, coach, train and guide colleagues in a range of educational settings, providing inspiration and motivation to engage others to develop their practice, supporting teams and guiding change.
- Identify, action and competently challenge issues and undertake difficult conversations where appropriate.
- Use reflection to develop themselves both professionally and personally to enhance their practice.
- Ensure the security and confidentiality of data, records and information in line with current legislation.
- Identify and act upon own responsibilities in relation to health and safety, prevention and control of infection, carrying out risk assessments and risk management processes in line with policies and procedures.
- Apply the principles of sustainability and segregate used resources for reuse, recycling, and safe disposal .
- Advocate for children through their child centred approach, listening to the voice of the child; ensuring children’s rights, views and wishes are heard, respected and acted upon at all times. Offer appropriate support and influence decisions in the best interests of the child.
- Develop, model and implement strategies to support the emotional, social, psychological, physical and cultural needs of all children within the educational setting.
- Support and promote children’s diverse speech, language and communication development and determining and adapting appropriate responses and interventions to support verbal, nonverbal interactions and engagement with written communication.
- Support children to engage in a range of learning contexts such as individual, small groups and larger groups as appropriate for their play and support confidence within social experiences.
- Engage in effective strategies to develop and extend children's learning and thinking, including sustained shared thinking.
- Promote, model and support children and families to develop a healthy approach to making choices relating to personal care including eating, sleeping and physical activity.
- Analyse and articulate how all children’s individual learning can be affected by their current developmental capabilities, characteristics and individual circumstances taking into account all factors contributing to typical and atypical development.
- Ensure plans fully reflect the individual development needs and circumstances of children and actively participate in the provision of consistent care, responding quickly to the needs of the individual child.
- Plan, carry out and guide appropriate personal care routines for individual children.
- Competently action and carry out safeguarding procedures, using their professional curiosity, knowledge, insight and understanding.
- Explore and understand, challenge and question; knowing when to act to safeguard and protect children.
- Encourage all children’s participation, ensuring a sensitive, respectful and effective balance within the adult and child dynamic to facilitate play opportunities.
- Ensure staff are deployed effectively to suit and enhance the learning environment, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of all children.
- Cultivate professional partnerships with parents, carers, colleagues and other professionals, presenting their understanding of the child’s journey within multidisciplinary teams to holistically support the child’s individual needs.
- Demonstrate the importance of the home learning environment, developing an effective and collaborative partnership to enhance opportunities for the child.
- Provide a dynamic, evolving and enabling environment that reflects the current interests, motivations, and play of individual and groups of children.
- Use current and contemporary knowledge, research, theories and approaches to develop, enhance and articulate their own pedagogical approach and practice.
- Observe, assess, plan, facilitate and participate in play opportunities which include current curriculum requirements.
- Make use of formative and summative assessment, tracking children’s progress to plan for future learning possibilities including early interventions based on individual developmental needs.
- Take responsibility for supporting the key person in articulating children's progress and planning future learning possibilities including the safe use of digital technology to communicate effectively in both oral and written English.
- Promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
- Be a leaderful practitioner to support, mentor, coach, train and guide colleagues in a range of educational settings, providing inspiration and motivation to engage others to develop their practice, supporting teams and guiding change.
- Identify, action and competently challenge issues and undertake difficult conversations where appropriate.
- Use reflection to develop themselves both professionally and personally to enhance their practice.
- Ensure the security and confidentiality of data, records and information in line with current legislation.
- Identify and act upon own responsibilities in relation to health and safety, prevention and control of infection, carrying out risk assessments and risk management processes in line with policies and procedures.
- Apply the principles of sustainability and segregate used resources for reuse, recycling, and safe disposal .
Training schedule
More training information
You will be allocated a Development Coach for your learning journey and they will have 121s with you on a monthly basis at your workplace and this will combine face to face and online
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
Other in:
Desirable qualifications
GCSE in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Team working
- Creative
- Initiative
- Patience
- Physical fitness
Other requirements
Passing a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
Passing Reference Check
About this employer
At Active Angels we strive to provide children with a ‘home from home’ environment aided by an ambitious curriculum, supported by a language rich environment full of endless opportunities including offsite trips, parent workshops and visits from outside agencies such as: The Dentist, Animal Care Workshops, The Police, Firemen, Road Safety Experts etc.
We ensure that children are appropriately challenged given their age/stage of learning, in addition to supporting any children with additional needs by providing the correct necessary support.
Active Angels is situated on 6 acre’s of stunning landscaped fields, providing us with the means to ensure children take part in various forest school activities as well as maintaining outdoor play as an essential part of their day. Baby room offers a private fenced off play area, suited to their age more appropriately in addition to Cherubs/Preschool sharing a large fenced off Playground complete with a mud kitchen, climbing apparatus, an indoor playhouse and many more exciting opportunities.
https://active-angels.co.uk/ (opens in new tab)
Company benefits
Holiday paid pro rota in August,
A friendly and dedicated team with a wealth of experience to share.
After this apprenticeship
- Progress to Deputy or managerial positions
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
THE CHILD CARE COMPANY (OLD WINDSOR) LIMITED
Ali Franklin
ali.franklin@thechildcarecompany.com
01753 978514
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000023487.
Apply now
Closes in 22 days (Monday 20 April 2026 at 11:59pm)