Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner Apprenticeship - Experience Required

Wimbledon Day Nursery

London (SW19 1TA)

Closes on Friday 1 January 2027

Posted on 3 November 2026

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Summary

Ready to take the next step in your early years career? This Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner apprenticeship is designed for experienced practitioners looking to develop their leadership skills while continuing to support children's learning and development.

Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification is essential.

Wage

£17,472 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age

National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Apprentice wage is £8 per hour for the first 12 months of an apprenticeship.

Final wage will depend on experience and qualifications.

Training course
Early years lead practitioner (level 5)
Hours
Monday - Friday, must be able to work between 7.30am – 6.30pm. 51 weeks of the year.

42 hours a week

Start date

Saturday 2 January 2027

Duration

1 year 9 months

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

  • Providing care: Ensuring children are safe and well, and responding to their need
  • Supporting learning: Facilitating play and learning opportunities, and developing children's speech, language, and communication
  • Leading practice: Participating in and leading daily routines, and promoting best practices for observation, assessment, and planning
  • Promoting diversity and equality: Ensuring all children are included and supported
  • Complying with safeguarding: Ensuring the setting complies with all safeguarding legislation, policies, and strategies
  • Reflecting and building on practice: Using professional enquiry and action research to contribute to the setting's pedagogical approach
  • Leading other practitioners: Supporting others in developing their own practice

Where you'll work

32 Montague Road
London
SW19 1TA

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

BEST PRACTICE NETWORK 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

Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner

  • The programme offers a blended approach including virtual classrooms, webinars, work-based tasks and online assignments
  • Candidates are not required to attend college
  • You will  receive one-to-one support and tuition from your apprenticeship tutor, this tutor will make in person visits to you at the nursery, or schedule online meetings every 5-6 weeks
  • You will  receive one-to-one support and tuition from your apprenticeship tutor, this tutor will make in person visits

Requirements

Essential qualifications

Level 3 Early Years Educator Qualification in:

Early Years (grade Pass)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

  • Communication skills
  • Organisation skills
  • Team working
  • Initiative
  • Patience

About this employer

Wimbledon Day Nursery is about providing the best level of care and education for every child who comes through our door.
With a highly qualified team of staff and a management team who together have over twenty years of childcare knowledge we have managed to create a home away from home experience for your pride and joy. We believe in working closely with all families offering ongoing support and encouraging continual involvement in the nursery life of your child.

We understand that it is often difficult for parent’s to put their child into nursery which is why we hope Wimbledon Day Nursery will be the perfect setting in which you and your child feel completely safe and at home.

After this apprenticeship

Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).

  • It is up to you what you do when you have finished your apprenticeship
  • There may be an opportunity to stay on at the same company and progress to the next level of apprenticeship, or you may want to look for a new job or professional development opportunity

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

BEST PRACTICE NETWORK LIMITED

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000062232.

Apply now

Closes on Friday 1 January 2027