Qualities Required

Our standards and expectations – including Safer Recruitment and equal opportunities

Successful candidates will –

  • be passionate about working with the Early Years.
  • have good planning and organisational skills
  • have good verbal and written communication.
  • be able to work well in a team.
  • have a professional demeanor whilst at work.
  • be reliable and hard working.
  • be able to use reflective practice to continually improve your performance.

Transport

Your own transport is quite important as the local bus services are unreliable:

  • Our Bletchingdon setting has a limited bus service to the village
  • Our Farmoor setting is a 15 minute walk from a bus stop in Farmoor village, which has connections to both Witney and Oxford.
  • Whilst Eynsham village is on a bus route from Witney to Oxford our Eynsham setting is just outside the village and there is no nearby stop.

Safer Recruitment

Willow Cottage Nurseries are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Successful candidates will be required to have an enhanced DBS check and other relevant checks with statutory bodies. All our staff are required to sign up for the DBS Update Service.

Willow Cottage will take up two references as part of the recruitment process and, wherever possible, one of these references will be completed before the interview. We will also require the successful applicant to complete a Staff Suitability Declaration.

All roles within our organisation are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.

The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account.

The Ministry of Justice’s guidance on the Act and the Exceptions can be found at

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945449/rehabilitation-of-offenders-guidance.pdf

and this provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance/dbs-filtering-guide

Shortlisted candidates are required to declare any relevant convictions, adult cautions or other matters which may affect your suitability to work with children. As a result of amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (exceptions order 1975) in 2013 and 2020, some minor offences are now protected (filtered) and should not be disclosed to potential employers, and employers cannot take these offences into account.

Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination

We are an equal opportunities employer. We will select applicants for interview based on their ability to do the job and ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

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