Early Years Practitioner
Hillwood Primary School

Salary: £29,173 - 33,287 (pro-rata for part-time and sessional) 
Hours: 21 per week, 39 weeks sessional 

Working pattern for position is Wednesday to Friday. 

An exciting opportunity has arisen ay Hillwood Primary school for an Early Years Practitioner to support children within the school nursery setting. The successful candidate will be enthusiastic and skilled with relevant experience of working with children in an educational and nursery setting. Ideally, they should also have relevant experience of supporting children with emotional and behavioural needs and be skilled in establishing effective positive relationships with children. At Hillwood, we are committed to providing a nurturing, stimulating and inclusive environment where children are encouraged to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to approach life and learning with confidence.

The successful candidate will have to register with SSSC within 6 months of employment commencing if they have not already done so.

Hillwood Primary School is a small non-denominational primary school situated on the western outskirts of Edinburgh.  The school currently has 100 pupils organised into 4 composite classes and an Early Years class providing for eligible 2-year olds as well as delivering 1140 hours during term time only.

The school is led by a management team consisting of a Head Teacher, a Principal Teacher and a Business Manager. There are four composite classes led by a mix of five full time and part time class teachers and a Support for Learning Teacher. Management and Teachers are all ably supported by a team of Pupil Support Assistants, a part time School Administrator and Facilities Technician.

The extensive school grounds are well developed with pupil gardens, picnic tables, a gazebo, a trim trail and a sports pitch. We have a strong focus on outdoor learning, loose parts play, forest visits and the Daily Mile. We are a nurturing school and believe that building strong positive relationships with our whole school community is key to success in learning for all.     

Hillwood has a strong positive ethos and presence in the community.  Hillwood is at the heart of its community and many children have been preceded as a Hillwood pupil by their parents and grandparents.  Our Parent Council are developing their areas of responsibility within the school community and take a keen interest in the life of the school.  Curricular and social events are well attended at the school and there are excellent relationships between parents, staff and children.  We have developed our links with the local business community.         

For more information about the school please visit the website Hillwood Primary School  or call 0131 333 1210. 

This post is regulated work with children and/or protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The preferred candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check.  Where an individual has spent a continuous period of 3 months or more out with the UK in the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. An unconditional offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of both these pre-employment checks being deemed satisfactory.

We're committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits that a diverse workforce with different values, beliefs, experience, and backgrounds brings to us as an organisation.

As part of our goal to improve our organisational culture and create a great place to work together for the people of Edinburgh, we want to make sure that we’re bringing the best people into our roles, not just in their skills and experience but also in their approach to work.

To help achieve this, we’re changing the way we interview and assess candidates by moving from a competency-based interview approach to a behavioural and technical (skills for the job) based approach. This new way of interviewing will allow us to assess how you think and how you would bring Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility into your ways of working.

You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council

Our salary range typically reflects the initial starting salary and annually increases until it reaches the top of the range.

Happy to talk flexible working.

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View Early Years Practitioner job pack 

View sessional working information 

THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

About Us:

Are you keen to shape the future of Scotland’s capital city? The City of Edinburgh Council is looking for dedicated and enthusiastic individuals to work with us and deliver key services across our capital city. We’re the second largest local authority in Scotland with a workforce of over 19,000 who all play a crucial role in maintaining and supporting vital services to over 500,000 residents. We offer an incredible variety of career opportunities across a broad range of sectors. Join us and you’ll find a role where you can make a difference and grow your career.

Our Culture:

Our Behaviours, respect, integrity, and flexibility guide everything that we do, and we strive to make sure all colleagues feel valued and have a sense of belonging in the workplace. We want to make sure that we bring people into our roles who demonstrate Our Behaviours and are dedicated and committed to our purpose of serving our community. We are focused on delivering excellent customer service to meet citizens needs and make the city a better place.

You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

We recognise the benefits that diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds bring to our organisation, and we’re committed to employing a workforce that represents the population of the city we serve. We particularly encourage applicants from under-represented groups including women, LGBT+ people, racially minoritised groups, people with disabilities and people who are neurodivergent.

As part of our commitment to inclusive recruitment, we're delighted to announce that we have extended our guaranteed interview scheme to include all applicants who are or have been care experienced, and who meet the essential criteria for the post. This extends our current arrangements of being a Disability Confident Employer, that guarantee an interview to applicants who meet the criteria for the post and who declare a disability.

Happy to talk flexible working.

Colleague Support and Wellbeing

As outlined in our People Strategy 2024-27, we aim to nurture a healthy workforce where we can all thrive. We offer regular events, initiatives and learning opportunities covering a range of different health and wellbeing topics.

We’re committed to supporting employees to achieve a healthy work life balance. There are several policies in place to support this ranging from flexible work options to career breaks. Our full suite of employment policies can be found here.

We have a range of support options available including access to counselling, a mental health support service, an occupational health service, speak up supporters and a colleague listening service.

Reasonable Adjustments:

We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience at work for all our colleagues and we’ll work hard to ensure that we meet the changing needs of colleagues throughout their time with us. We’re also geared up to support all candidates who may require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process. Candidates invited for interview, should let the hiring manager know what they need, and they will do everything they can to accommodate your request.