Early Childhood Educator

1. PURPOSE:

• The first and foremost responsibility of the Early Childhood Educator is to be concerned with the overall welfare of the children in the kindergarten, and to care for and respond to their individual needs, as well as promoting and supporting the educational principles of Waldorf Early Childhood Education and Care.

1. MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

The role of the Kindergarten Educator is to support the Kindergarten Coordinator in ensuring that high standards of excellence are maintained in the kindergarten through high quality of learning for each child. This includes the following tasks and responsibilities:

•  The Educator has primary responsibility for the overall welfare of the children in their care.  This includes: supporting the creative play, artistic and domestic activities; the celebration of festivals (seasonal and cultural) creative discipline and work with parents, carers and families
• The Educator is responsible for the organization and running of the programs, working as part of a team of teachers, assistants and other members of School staff, including the Coordinators and Management Team 
• Implementing the curriculum for Waldorf Early Childhood at a pace suitable for the children’s ages and development, with appropriate modifications deemed necessary
• Familiarizing oneself immediately with the rules of behavior and ensure the adherence to our policies and procedures and to statutory obligations, particularly those relating to
• Health and Safety and risk assessments, Safeguarding (child protection) and Equal Opportunities
• The Educator is responsible for adequate preparation and planning which includes attending to daily, weekly and long-term planning, and working with colleagues in a reciprocal way in order to facilitate this. The Educator is also responsible for daily and weekly reviews of planning and activities, including keeping parents informed.  The Educator will put sufficient amounts of this preparation and planning process in writing so as to be able to work clearly with the assistant and colleagues, and for any cover teacher to be able to continue effectively with the children should the Educator be absent. These documents will also serve to assessors, supply teachers or others, the intended learning, progression, activities and rhythms in that particular group, and how the needs of specific children will be met
• It is expected that the Educator will keep daily, weekly and termly individual child observations/assessments and undertake (with colleagues) individual child studies when appropriate or needed. The Educator should also produce end of year reports for all the children entrusted with his/her care
• The Educator is responsible for the care and beauty of the classroom according to the Waldorf curriculum, working with the seasons, sensory protection or the young child, and full understanding of the Health and Safety regulations of the school
• The Educator is expected to work with the other educators, assistants, administrative staff
• Depending on the size of the group, the Educator will work together with a colleague (according to the statutory child/staff ratio). It is the responsibility of the Educator to ensure that the colleague is informed and understands and carries out his or her duties accordingly. The Educators are expected to assist each other.  This includes giving and sharing teaching material such as ring times, verses, stories and activities in advance so they are able to familiarize themselves with and learn them. If the assistant is attending a training course, the teacher will need to take on responsibility for mentoring where necessary
• The Educator is expected to attend a weekly meeting which is chaired by the coordinators. This meeting is mainly for overall planning, Kindergarten pedagogy and administrative work. Another meeting for weekly planning and crafts preparation is attended by all educators with child studies undertaken with each teacher/assistant team individually.  Pre-term planning meetings and or Inset days take place regularly and should be attended by all the educators
• The Educator is expected to attend the monthly training workshop as well as a block seminar every six months. The issues that are worked through during this meeting concern the school as a whole and incorporate planning and business, as well as pedagogy and child studies
• It is expected that the Educator will be in and responsible for the program during the term time 5 full days per week, and possibly during some evenings and weekends and occasionally during school holidays for festivals, classroom preparation, parents’ evenings and meetings, planning, pedagogical tasks, study / inset training or business and administrative tasks where necessary.  Children attend the kindergarten for 5 hours per day, three hours in the PSS program and four hours within the skateboarding program.  The rest of the time may be used by the educator for planning, preparation, home visits, organization and administrative tasks, as well as attending meetings, etc. 
• The Educators should work together with the administrative staff including the coordinators on financial and administrative tasks necessary for the day to day running of the programs including: admissions and meeting new families, budgeting, and registration. They will also be responsible for their individual children’s files including ongoing observations and assessments, planning as well as participating in the development and reviewing of policies and risk assessments.
• The Educator is expected to conduct home visits to each family in their Kindergarten approximately once a year.  This visit allows a more complete picture to form in the teacher’s mind and informs the work with the child and the family.
• The Kindergarten Educator is expected to host parents’ evenings at least once per term. To enable the parents to experience some of the pedagogy for themselves through talks, crafts, songs or activities provided. The Educator can also use these meetings for building the bridge between home and school, sharing with the parents the philosophy behind the pedagogy, which may enable the parents take to it into their own homes.  This helps to give the child continuity and find a harmony between home and the programs. This gives the opportunity for the Educator to share and discuss individual children’s progress and development at least once a term. Additional meetings can be organized if required. It is advisable for another colleague to be present and, where necessary, notes should be kept.
• At all times the Educator is obliged to respect professional confidentiality with regard to information about children, parents and staff at the school, and to be discreet about one’s own personal private matters to parents.  Staff must at all times comply with the School’s Data Protection Policy.
• The Educators take responsibility for organizing the festivals within their own setting and sharing fairly in the work of preparation and participation in the joint events and festivals with the other Kindergartens and School.
• The Educator is primarily responsible for the organization of trips and excursions as desirable. It is normal to ask for help from among the parents. A risk assessment must be written for every event or outing, and you will be breaking the law if you do not have one. All Educators are required to meet the school’s Offsite/Trips Policy requirement and procedures.
• A First Aid certificate must be undertaken and kept fully up to date, as the Kindergarten Educator will be responsible for administering appropriate First Aid to the children when required.  All incidents (whether or not they require First Aid) must be logged immediately in the Accident Book and the parents asked to sign.
• The Educator is often the first port of call for the parent’s grievances/ problems, especially pedagogical concerns. They should seek to resolve most concerns through meeting with the parents with the help of at least one colleague and with the support of the Early Years Coordinator and the Early Years Teachers meeting. If this is not satisfactory, they should encourage the parents to follow the correct Complaints Procedure

1. QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS required to perform the duties of the post:

a) EDUCATION:

• University degree in Education (preferably in early childhood development or pre-school education) social sciences, psychology or other relevant degree or equivalent qualification

b) WORK EXPERIENCE:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in pre-school education and/or child protection.

c) LANGUAGES (Indicate the languages required and desirable.)

•  Fluency in English and Arabic (verbal and written). 

d) REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Communication 
• Working with People
• Learning and Researching
• Planning and Organizing