Early years teachers or nursery teachers, work in nursery, reception and pre-school classes. They usually teach children aged between three and five. They organise, plan and supervise various play and learning activities for young children in a supportive and safe setting. Early years teachers also record observations and summarise the achievements of their pupils. They concentrate on preparing young children to transition to primary school education successfully.

If you love working with children and are committed to providing them with a good start in life, you can train to be an early years teacher. A job as a nursery teacher carries great responsibility, but it can be extremely rewarding. In order to be successful in this field, you need to understand how children learn, be able to work closely with parents and other teachers and have many creative ideas. 

Work activities 

When working as an early years teacher, your duties would include;

• Motivating children to learn.

• Supporting the development of the social and personal skills of children, including physical coordination, communication and language.

• Assessing, observing and recording the progress of each child.

• Ensuring that children are safe at all times.

• Encouraging good behaviour and cooperation.

• Helping children achieve the goals of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

• Using learning resources and materials imaginatively and devising visual aids.

• Building up the numerical, literacy and language skills of children.

• Working together with other professionals like social workers on issues involving child protection.

• Speaking to parents or guardians about the children’s progress.

Entry requirements

In order to find early years teaching jobs in state schools or nurseries, you should complete initial teacher education or training in either early years or primary education.

Opportunities

After gaining Qualified Teacher Status, you may work in private or public nurseries and schools, hospitals, children’s centres, academies, free schools and schools that are run by the armed forces. Part time and temporary teaching opportunities are available. As you progress in your career, you may end up becoming a manager of a nursery school or a group of nursery schools.

Working conditions and hours

If you choose to be a full time teacher in a school, you will work an average of thirty seven to forty hours per week. However, you may work more than 40 hours each week depending on your workload. Generally, classes start between 8.30 and 9.15 am and end at around 3.15 to 4.30 pm.

Nursery school children attend school a several hours each day. They may also attend school in the afternoon or morning hours only. It is therefore possible for you to teach several groups of children in a day. Nurseries are usually open from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm and you can teach up to eight hours a day. Some nurseries also open on Saturdays. Apart from spending time teaching, you will also spend some time preparing, assessing and planning activities for children as well as attending parent meetings and evening training sessions.

Income 

The average salary of an early years teacher ranges from 22,000 to 33,000 pounds per year. Teachers who have reached the top salary scale earn about 35,000 to 38,000 pounds per year. Those who have progressed into leadership roles or have advanced skills earn the highest salaries.

Finding a job

In order to find early years teaching jobs easily, you can enlist the services of specialist recruitment agencies. These agencies specialise in creating the perfect match between candidates and nursery schools by aligning the personalities and skills of candidates to specific job roles.