Here's a number you don't see very often in nursery recruitment.
24.
That's the total number of registered places at this Oxford nursery.
Not 80.
Not 120.
Not three floors and a management team that needs a spreadsheet to remember everyone's name.
Just a small, established early years setting where the Room Leader can genuinely know the children, families and practitioners around them.
Tiny Tots Recruitment is looking for an experienced Nursery Room Leader in Oxford to join this close-knit team.
And there is quite a lot to like about it.
First, the nursery day finishes earlier than most
The setting's current registered opening hours are:
Monday to Friday 8:15am to 5:00pm
throughout the year.
Compare that with the 6pm or 6:30pm closing times that are almost standard across the sector and it's a noticeable difference.
Your own rota will include the preparation and handover time required around the nursery day, but you're not joining a setting where children are still being collected well into the evening.
For somebody who's spent years working late nursery closes, that alone could be worth a conversation.
Then there's the Ofsted history
The nursery was rated:
Outstanding in 2018.
And then:
Outstanding again in 2024.
Its most recent inspection awarded Outstanding across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
More importantly, the report gives us a pretty good idea of what you'd actually be joining.
Inspectors found a team with high expectations for children, strong communication and language practice, thoughtful questioning, excellent mathematical learning and a curriculum designed to help children understand emotions and regulate their feelings.
This isn't a nursery trying to become good.
You're joining one where the standards are already high.
Your job is to help keep them there.
Your room won't exist in isolation
As Room Leader, you'll still be completely involved with the children.
But you'll also become one of the people responsible for making sure strong practice is consistent across the team.
You'll be expected to:
Lead practitioners confidently within the room Maintain high standards of care and education Support children's individual learning and development Make sure observations actually inform what happens next Support staff with planning and assessment Create a stimulating and purposeful environment Model strong interactions with children Help practitioners develop their confidence and knowledge Build strong relationships with parents and carers Maintain excellent safeguarding practice Support children with additional needs Work closely with nursery management Contribute to daily communication and reflection Identify where practice can become even stronger
This is the sort of Room Leader role where quality matters more than looking busy.
The team is unusually well qualified
At its latest inspection, the nursery employed just nine members of staff.
Of those:
Six held relevant Level 3 qualifications.
Two held relevant Level 6 qualifications.
That's a very experienced qualification profile for such a small setting.
So you're not being recruited to drag an inexperienced team behind you.
You'll be working alongside practitioners who already understand early years practice, which means your role can focus much more on leadership, mentoring and refinement.
What does staff development look like?
This is probably my favourite part of the Ofsted report.
Staff told inspectors they felt extremely valued and listened to, while leadership actively encouraged training and personal development and provided strong wellbeing support.
The team also has briefings before and after each nursery day, giving staff regular opportunities to communicate and reflect together.
That's a small thing that can make a big difference.
Problems don't have to sit unresolved for three weeks until somebody remembers there is a staff meeting.
And the children don't spend their entire week inside the nursery
There's a genuinely lovely community element to the curriculum.
Preschool children make weekly visits to a residential care home, where younger and older generations take part in planned activities together.
The setting also has close relationships with local schools. Teachers visit the nursery, and children make visits to the schools they'll eventually attend, helping make that transition considerably less daunting.
For a Room Leader, those experiences give you something much richer to build children's learning around than constantly inventing activities inside one room.
Who are we looking for?
You'll need a full and relevant Level 3 Early Years qualification or above.
You'll ideally already be:
A Nursery Room Leader Senior Nursery Practitioner Senior Early Years Educator Experienced Level 3 Practitioner ready for increased responsibility
We'd particularly like to speak with somebody who:
Understands the EYFS properly Has strong safeguarding knowledge Can confidently guide other practitioners Enjoys working directly with children Communicates well with families Values reflective practice Can maintain high standards without micromanaging people Wants to work somewhere smaller and more personal
You need to be comfortable joining a nursery that already expects a lot from its practitioners.
But equally, you should expect a lot from the setting you work for.
The opportunity £30,000 to £33,000 per year Permanent, full-time position Monday to Friday Nursery open to children 8:15am to 5pm Only 24 registered places Highly qualified existing staff team Outstanding Ofsted rating Outstanding leadership and management Strong training and professional development culture Staff wellbeing support Company pension Sick pay Free on-site parking Good transport links Community experiences including weekly care-home visits Bigger isn't always better.
If you enjoy knowing every child properly, being accessible to every parent and working in a team where people actually notice what you contribute, a smaller nursery can be a very different working experience.
And when that nursery is already Outstanding, you can spend less time firefighting and more time making good practice even better.
If you're looking for a Nursery Room Leader job in Oxford, Senior Early Years role in North Oxford or Level 3 nursery leadership opportunity in OX2, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply today through Tiny Tots Recruitment for a confidential conversation about the opportunity.