Deputy Nursery Manager - LV5 Apprentice
OMRAJ CHILDCARE LTD
Sutton (SM3 8LR)
Closes in 29 days (Saturday 26 September 2026 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 28 August 2026
Contents
Summary
This Level 5 Early Years Lead Apprenticeship offers an exciting opportunity to develop into a Deputy Manager while working in a professional early year setting. You will gain hands‑on leadership experience, support day‑to‑day nursery operations, and help deliver high‑quality care and education for children.
- Wage
-
£35,000 a year
- Training course
- Early years lead practitioner (level 5)
- Hours
-
40 hours a week with 20% of employed time guaranteed to complete assignments with support of a tutor. Days and times to be confirmed.
40 hours a week
- Start date
-
Wednesday 30 September 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
- Ensure full regulatory compliance
- Deliver outstanding care and education
- Support, develop, and lead nursery staff
- Build positive relationships with parents, carers, and external agencies
- Manage budgets and maintain financial targets
- Lead and manage the nursery team, ensuring company policies and procedures are followed
- Maintain high standards of care, learning, and safeguarding in line with the EYFS
- Oversee planning, assessment, and inclusion practices, including SEND provision
- Ensure children’s safety and staff understanding of safeguarding procedures
- Recruit, induct, train, supervise, and appraise staff to maintain high-quality practice
- Effectively deploy staff and manage staffing, operational, and running costs
- Promote reflective practice, continuous improvement, and staff development
- Build strong partnerships with parents, carers, and external professionals
- Represent and promote the nursery within the local community
- Ensure compliance with health and safety, emergency procedures, and safer recruitment requirements
- Manage complaints, inspections, and all nursery administration, including records and personnel files
- Support disciplinary and grievance processes in partnership with the Franchisee and Head Office
- Undertake additional duties as required by the line manager
Where you'll work
Priory Crescent
Cheam
Sutton
SM3 8LR
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
WMC TRAINING LTD
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
An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. Off-the-job training will follow the time allocations outlined in the Occupational Standard.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
Early Years Educator - Level 3 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
- Logical
- Team working
- Initiative
- Patience
Other requirements
Passing a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
About this employer
Welcome to Monkey Puzzle Cheam. A beautiful nursery setting offering outstanding childcare to Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers aged 3 months to 5 years old.
Our Visions and Values
When we think about Hygge in the Early Years we are focusing on the FEELING. We feel that no matter what their background or situation, “Every child needs a champion”. We as educators stand up for what our children need, value each child as an individual and understand that each child has the potential to learn from their surroundings in their unique ways. Our vision shapes all aspects of teaching and learning from the planning process, the interactions between staff and child and the learning environment.
By working in partnership with parents, we aim to provide a stimulating, challenging environment which is:
A home away from home
Warm, simplistic and joyful
A space to connect children to their families
Helping children to be powerful and active
Seeing oneself as a capable learner
Recognizing and being curious
Shared Values
Respect for children and childhood
A positive image of children as competent, capable, strong and powerful, who have enormous potential
The holistic learning climate has a significant impact on children
Playing outdoors, experiencing the natural environment is crucial
Well-being, co-operation, and teamwork are valued
Reciprocal relationships between children and adults are vital
To create a “laboratory of possibilities”
Parents are respected and valued
Relationships with the whole community and children’s wider environment are very important
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
Upon completion of this Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner course, you will be positioned to secure opportunities within senior leadership.
Advocates for their staff's development this nursery are strong investors in their staff.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
WMC TRAINING LTD
Ben Pope
ben.pope@wmctraining.co.uk
08006446877
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000050753.
Apply now
Closes in 29 days (Saturday 26 September 2026 at 11:59pm)