Job Description: Our Room Leaders

In this article, we’re going to run through the specifics of the Room Leader’s Job Description - who they are, what they do, what they are responsible for, who reports to them (and why) and what performance metrics we expect them to deliver

Key Information
Post Title	Room Leader
Direct Report	Nursery Manager
Indirect Report	Deputy Manager / Third in charge
Works with	Other Room Leaders
Line Manages	All staff within the room they supervise: Deputy Room Leaders, Qualified early years teachers (level 3 +), Trainee Teachers (Level 2+); Teaching Assistants (Unqualified in training); Assistants (Unqualified personnel not in training)
Performance targets & Evaluation	Inspections: Ofsted / Central Team or Consultants - Good-Outstanding floor practice elements - Quarterly Inspections (30% weighting) 80% Staff positive feedback (within your room) - Quarterly Inspections (20% weighting) 95% Parent retention feedback (within your room) - Quarterly Inspections (20% weighting) 95% of Children progress to meet or exceed EYFS Development age bands - Monthly Reviews by Manager (15% weighting) 95% completion of compliance task lists and logs - on-going assessments (15% weighting) 95% punctual attendance throughout year
Probation	6 Months during which time probationary assessments must be passed, digital training programmes completed and positive peer review secured
Type	Full time permanent contract
Progression	Third in Charge
Required Qualifications & Certificates	Essential: Relevant childcare qualification to level 3 or above; Up to date DBS; Pediatric first aid; Safeguarding training; Food Hygiene; SEND; Fire Safety; A positive approach to gaining further qualifications and trainings.
Responsibilities	Room Leadership & Management - overseeing your room team and providing room evaluations / self assessments as part of quality assurance Health & Safety - ensuring that room and staff are all compliant with policy at all times Child Welfare / Protection - ensuring that child protection and safeguarding procedures are maintained at all times, reporting to the DSO as and when required Administration - maintaining an accurate and up to date log of all statutory checks for the room at all times Staff management - assisting the manager/ deputy with supervisions , one on ones with subordinates and providing assessments of staff practice on on-going basis and reporting to manager and incidence of disciplinary / grievance Education & Learning - being primarily responsible for the planning of the room, to be compliant with the schools policies on bilingual leanring, working with manager and senior Chinese teachers in delivery of programmes that support our ethos Formative Assessment - overseeing all formative and summative assessments for key children in room, reviewing subordinate staff output and ensuring that staff maintain strict adherence to the reporting timetable one observation / key child / week, ensuring Characteristics of Effective Learning and other frameworks are mapped on development Parent Comms - managing the digital daily diaries and formative assessments through EY Log and ensuring that parents are updated via the app on all movements REgistrations - ensuring that all children are registered into the EY Log system
Skills:	Good organisational, record keeping and planning skills Excellent communication skills, with children, colleagues, advisors and parents/carers A good understanding of the EYFS Good written and verbal skills for report writing, maintaining child records and providing feedback to parents/carers and colleagues A positive approach to learning and gaining new skills through teamwork and training opportunities The ability to model, motivate and support staff Problem-solving skills Basic IT skills Able to plan and manage own and others workload Desired – Mandarin
Experience	2 years of working in a baby room (pre 2 yr old age group) in a Nursery with Ofsted rated Good to Outstanding inspection history Experience of caring for, or working with children aged aged 6 months to 5. Good knowledge of Ofsted requirements for the provision of safe care to children aged 6 months to 5 years. Knowledge of health & safety requirements for the environment in which children aged 6 months to 5 years are cared for Experience of working in small team, supporting colleagues with peer on peer observations. A commitment to the provision of high quality childcare. Being able to deliver a tough message in a fair way Supporting nursery marketing events experience
Person Specification	Punctuality Patience Reliability and trustworthiness A positive approach to inclusive practice with children, parents and colleagues Enthusiasm for working with young children Flexibility – occasionally working hours might be changed, e.g. if the the setting host marketing events
Safeguarding	Hatching Dragons is committed to employing the most rigorous vetting procedures to ensure that its staff are the most qualified to care for its children. For full guidance, see our application form online (http://hatching-dragons.com/nursery-jobs)
Safer Recruitment	Candidates will be expected to follow the following safer recruitment steps prior to appointment: Registering Interest - submitting a response and cover letter to this advert Telephone screen - to provide principal assessment to your suitability Application Form - submitting their CV in full to the ATS (BambooHR) with mandatory questions fulfilled Referencing - referencing will be submitted for candidates who are processed through to interview & trial so that job offers can be expedited Invitation to Formal Interview & Trial - Post review of submitted certificates and safer recruitment information you’ll be invited to a formal interview and trial at one of our schools DBS Application & Conditional Job offer - post interview provisional offers, conditional on clear DBS, will be made Contracting - issuance of final contracts for signing Onboarding Pack -induction and onboarding pack issued by HR Management System, BambooHR

Purpose of Role
To ensure that the Room for which you are responsible always meets the compliance requirements of safeguarding and welfare (see Section 3, Page 16-31) and the learning and development requirements (see Sections 1 & 2, Pages 7-15) of the EYFS Statutory Framework and is met to Outstanding practice upon review

Organisational Culture: Personality / Attitude and Approach
It is critical that we get the right mix of people with the right skills and expertise to deliver the quality we need but it all hinges on the team, culture and attitude we take to work and to each other to make it happen. As such, every staff member is invited to evaluate their Manager, Management Team, Themselves and at least two of their peers against the following principles, which we, as a company, believe reflect the values of the company - values that we are trying to teach our children so should be able to demonstrate ourselves
Respect & Courtesy - for the Company, for your colleagues and yourself in how you communicate / behave	Compassion & Understanding - of your needs and those of others in how you communicate / behave	Team Work, Support & Collaboration - helping others do what needs to get done
Proactive Positivity - being solutions oriented, not problems focussed	Praise & Encouragement - congratulating peers on work and providing positive constructive feedback on where they can improve	Pragmatic Professionalism - Maintaining confidentiality, ensuring policy and applying restraint in how your communicate

Areas of Responsibility
Areas	What to Do (Policy Requirement)	When	How (Procedural Guide)	Systems
Leadership, Management & Quality Control - 10% - See Quality Control Policy - The Room Leader is primarily responsible for ensuring his / her team and room is driving towards Outstanding through effective leadership and management of room improvements. See Outstanding Practice as outlined in pages 28-44 of the Ofsted early years inspectors handbook.
Room Improvement Plan	To develop, monitor and update your Room Improvement Plan to ensure we’re working towards Outstanding in all areas	Monthly	Update Room Improvement Plan on weekly and monthly basis, setting tasks for the team to achieve on on-going basis through team meetings. Photo and share with manager each month	Google Docs
Inspection Test	Prepare the room and team for Ofsted / Inspections from central team through on-going tests of policy knowledge and practice inspections.	Quarterly	Test staff knowledge through policy matrix test and run through Inspection Checklist / IMprovement Plan	Google Docs
Room Organisation / Cleanliness	To ensure that your room is tidy, presentable, inviting and reflective of current planning / education and staff information and children	On- going	Deploy staff to tidy after each activity, ensure toys / items are returned to the appropriate place and boards for parent information are maintained in line with Cleaning Rota	Trail / Photo evidence
Team building	To hold staff meetings once / week to discuss issues arising (children starting / welfare / holidays / deployment / policy)	Weekly	Use Room Meeting template to on Bamboo HR to complete and send to manager	Bamboo HR / Google Docs
Monitoring Standards	Ensure staff adhere to terms of Code of Conduct, Staff Language Policy; Dress code & safeguarding policies (e.g. on mobile phones) and confidentiality policies with parents. See Monitoring Staff Policy	Daily	RLs should use probationary tracker templates & peer on peer observations & policy knowledge matrix tests to measure staff. Take photo and share with manager	Bamboo HR / Trail
Health & Safety - 10 % - see General H&S policy. R/Ls hold overall responsibility for the Health & Safety standards within their room. It is an on-going requirement requiring diligence and a culture within the staff team to ensure that standards are constantly met and risks mitigated. See Citation training modules.
Risk Assessment	To have lead responsibility to undertake daily room risk assessments to ensure room is safe for the day. See R/A policy \|Safety Checks policy	Daily 0800	Fill out R/A log file in Daily task list in Trail / advise RL on any risks identified and highlight to manage via nursery slack channel	Trail / Slack
Food Hygiene	Ensuring that fridges / food meet H&S Requirements under Food Hygiene & Healthy Workplace policies and that children’s allergies / dietary needs are met with appropriate coloured placemats (red \| white \| yellow \| green)	Daily (Pre- Open) / Lunch & Meal times	Check temperature probe of fridge and input into Trail log file Use temp probe for food and log in daily food hygiene log file at lunch / meal times Ensure children have appropriately coloured placemats to disclose dietary / allergy	Trail / Log File
Fire Evacuation	To have lead responsibility to organise / coordinate and deliver weekly fire drills to ensure procedures are met. See fire policy	Weekly	Evacuate children to congregation area, taking evacuation bag and walkie talkie. Take roll call and liaise with manager and update log template with performance	Trail / Log File
Cleaning	To delegate to staff team to ensure: Playspace is cleaned / setup between activities; toys and surfaces are cleaned / sanitised; Children’s linen is clearly labelled and cleaned; Separate and remove refuse for recycling; (See healthy work place & cleaning and Environmental policy)	Daily Weekly End of Day Daily / Weekly	Cleaning Rota on wall to share tasks. Toys: antibacterial wipes / bath for all toys and update log Cleaning linen logs to be updated Refuse separated into separate bins (general / recycling / clinical) & removed to bins Take photo of updated logs & share with manager	Trail / Log File
Medication	To check the contents of both the medication cabinet and the evacuation bag to ensure contents are up to date and full	Monthly	Update Medication Cabinet Check log to ensure contents are not out of date / fully stocked, take photo and share with manager	Google Photo
Child Welfare / Safeguarding / Protection - 10% - see Safeguarding Policy. Room Leaders hold overall responsibility for ensuring the safety for the children in their room including the safeguarding duty of care we have. They can depute below actions to subordinate staff but must sign off on logs and checks to ensure that activities are happening in line with policy
Intimate Care Routines	To ensure that nappy changes and toilet trips are delivered according to Respectful Care, Intimate Care, Nappy Change & Health & Safety / Infection Control Policies in terms of cross contamination. All children must have accurate nappy logs & nappy change needs daily cleaning Caring for babies & toddlers // Sleeping policies must also be met	Daily	Review nappy change records for each child (EY Man) Update cleaning log by nappy change station ad share with manager via Google Photo Review sleeping logs for each child (EY Man) and inspect sleeping area during Risk Assessment	EY Log
Accidents	To ensure that the Accident & Injury policy is met within your Room and that the Supervision policy is delivered by your staff team to minimise risks	Ad Hoc	Record Accident on EY Log / Man and report to manager. Monitor accident log for consistent issues. Remind staff on deployment in room to minimise incidents/ risks	EY Man
Incidents	To ensure all incidents (including behavior) are logged and managed consistent with Behaviour Management , Biting and Incident policies	Ad Hoc	Update Behaviour Management log and Child incident log template, Share with manager	Trail / Log file
Medication	To ensure child medication as administered in line with medication policy	Ad Hoc	Update administering medication log, ensure parents sign take photo and share with manager	Trail / Log File
Visitors	Ensure visitor management policy is met - collections only granted to those with permission to collect child	Ad Hoc	To be vigilant of supervising visitors to your room	Sign In App
Outings	To ensure that the outings policy is met and that during outings all aspects of health & safety are considered	Ad Hoc	- Undertake Outings R/A for each outing - share with manager - Ensure evacuation bag is full and mobile phone communicated to manager along with location / emergency contacts checked - Manage staff formation	Trail / Log File
Safeguarding	To ensure all children’s safeguarding in room is met in line with Safeguarding Policy		Record issues on safeguarding log template and share with manager	Email / CPOMS
Child Management - 5% - See Supervision policy for more information.
Settling In	To ensure settling in policy is met and all new starters, including parents, receive a full and comprehensive introduction to the school, the team and our policies	Ad Hoc	To deliver the Settling In Checklist and provide parents / manager with annotated updates on Settling Form. Share with manager via Google Photo	Trail / Log File / Google Calendar
Transitions	To ensure that the transition policy is met and all new transitioning children are given the same process as with a settle	Ad Hoc	Attend preliminary meeting with parent and manager Attend “Settling” Sessions in new room Fill out transition form and share with manager	Trail / Log File / Google Calendar
Room Staff Management - 25% - See Monitoring Staff Behaviour \|
Inductions	To induct new starters and agency staff into room structure / intro to team and run through routine of day. See induction policy	Ad Hoc	To run through room induction checklist, secure signature from new starter, photo and share with manager / HR to update staff file	BambooHR / Google Calendar / Trail
Deployment	To monitor and manage staff:student ratios throughout the day being aware of occasions where Single Worker is possible	Daily	Report gaps to manager via Slack / Internal Comms channels (walkie talkie etc)	Deputy / BambooHR / Walkie Talkie / Slack
Key Worker	To be responsible for maintaining an equitable split of key worker : child numbers between the staff in line with competence and experience - see policy	Ad Hoc	Maintain Key Worker lists on staff boards	EY Man / Log
Attendance	To notify the manager of late attendance of staff against deployment, or late return from lunch	Daily	RL’s to use Slack on tablets to notify manager of any on-going issue via Direct Message	BambooHR / Deputy / Slack
Probationary Assessments	To ensure that new starters receive regular end of week feedback with targets set for improvement and to make recommendations on performance to management. See Probation policy	Ad hoc	Undertake routine testing of staff knowledge on policy evaluation matrix with notes issued to the manager on performance.	BambooHR
Supervision & CPD	To provide your staff team with ad hoc one - on ones for feedback on their performance against job description and policy knowledge	Ad hoc	Use Bamboo HR Pre-built signature forms for staff to complete	Bamboo HR / Google Calendar
Holidays / Sickness	To notify manager of any holiday / sickness discussions as they arise	Ad hoc	Request / report to manager	Bamboo HR
Learning & Development - 30% - See Bilingual Policy, Pedagogy Statement and our Approach to Learning and Development / Annual Planning Cycle
You are responsible for delivering the overarching educational frameworks for your room, ensuring that children are exceeding expectations through inspirational activities that are geared towards their collective and individual learning intentions.
Key Person	To act as key person to a limited number of children in your room and assign the majority to your deputy and qualified practitioner staff.	On-goign
Bilingual Model	Ensuring that our bilingual policy and Our Approach to Education to is delivered	Weekly	Review Weekly class schedules to identify rotating Chinese / English practitioner schedules for activities and depute to staff for activity plans to be drafted	Trail / EY Log
Baseline / Formative & Summative Assessment	Undertake baseline assessment for all new starters and to oversee formative & summative assessment outputs for all children in room (along with your own Key Children)	Weekly Termly	Quality assure, review and publish observations drafted by floor team (1 / child / week) Review and publish Summative reports / Learning Journeys every 3 months	EY Log EY Log
Planning / Focussed activities	Responsible for delivery and development of weekly and monthly educational planning for the room, liaising with Manager and staff team on timetable and approach, ensuring compliance with our bilingual model	Weekly	Assign staff non-contact time to undertake their planning and review in line with policies Submit weekly planning schedules to manager for review Oversee development of one activity plan / week	Google Calendar Editable PDF
Materials	Providing manager and central team with procurement lists of materials for your planning on bimonthly basis	Twice / month	Submit procurement requests based on planning to manager via email	Email
Parents Relationships / External Communications 10% - See Parent Communications Policy; Complaints Policy; Late Arrival / collection Policy
Parent Handover	Ensure that key worker undertakes handover to parents at the end of the day. If significant instances occur (e.g. accident or incident), your should also attend handover.	Daily Daily	Ensure that practitioners give full handover in line with handover checklist Ensure all children in room have digital daily diaries completed each day	Verbal EY Log
Confidentiality	To ensure your staff team maintains professionalism in maintaining standards in communication with parents - see confidentiality policy	Daily	RLs should notify manager immediately if staffer breaks policy	Email
Complaints / Compliments	To be initial point of contact for all parent feedback (verbal)	Ad hoc	Advise parent of Complaints Policy and inform management / central team	Email
Events	Plan and prepare room activities to follow nursery event schedule, showcase the room by presenting the best practice on floor	Ad hoc	Ensure event risk assessment complete for your room take photo and share wilth manager	Google Photo
Marketing Collateral	Data Collection: Ensure high quality and meaningful pictures/videos are captured each week.	Weekly	Use Google photo to share marketable information to digital@hatching-dragons.com ensuring that permissions are reviewed so that only photos and videos of children permitting material are published	EY Log