Early Years Practitioner

Do you enjoy working with children and their families?

Are you passionate about giving young children the best possible start in life?
Do you enjoy supporting parents and carers to feel confident and empowered?
Would you like to develop your skills within a friendly, community‑based early help service?

If so, we'd love to hear from you

Barnardo's is proud to lead the delivery of Sandwell Family Hubs, supporting families from pregnancy through to adulthood. Family Hubs provide accessible, welcoming spaces where children, young people and families can get the right help at the right time.

As an Early Years Practitioner, you will work with children and their families working in local hubs and community venues across Sandwell. You will be in helping children build strong foundations for learning, development and wellbeing, with a particular focus on early communication, language development and school readiness. Using inclusive, trauma‑informed and relationship‑based practice, you will work alongside parents, carers and partner services to improve outcomes for children.

In this role, you will:

• Deliver high‑quality early years sessions, including Stay & Play style sessions, workshops and one‑to‑one support for children under five
• Complete WellComm speech and language screeningsand provide follow‑on targeted support to children and parents
• Support early identification of SEND, delivering inclusive sessions and sharing concerns appropriately to ensure children receive timely support
• Build positive, trusting relationships with parents and carers, supporting confidence and strengthening the home learning environment
• Promote school readinessand early communication through practical, engaging activities
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across Family Hubs and with partner agencies to ensure families receive joined‑up support
• Accurately record engagement, outcomes and impact to support service learning and improvement
• Contribute to a flexible, responsive service, working across different locations and taking part in evening and weekend delivery when required

What We're Looking For

We're looking for people who:

• Are passionate about early help, inclusion and equality
• Enjoy working with families from diverse backgrounds
• Have experience supporting children's development and working with parents or carers
• Are confident delivering group sessions and engaging families in a warm, approachable way
• Understand the importance of early identification and support for SEND
• Value reflection, learning and continuous improvement
• Enjoy being part of a supportive, team‑focused service

When applying, please clearly explain how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information, and demonstrate your understanding of the context and aims of the Sandwell Family Hubs service.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Rachel Jesson – Children's Services Manager (rachel.jesson@barnardos.org.uk)

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

• Reference number:22942
• Job Title:Early Years Practitioner
• Location:Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Smethwick, Oldbury, Rowley & Tipton
• Locality:Sandwell
• Contract type:Permanent (Fixed term funded post)
• End date:31/03/2029
• Hours:37
• Salary:£26003.00
• Closing Date:14 May 2026