EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – Episkopi at SBA

Sovereign Base Areas Administration – Official Vacancy Notice

Vacancy reference: HR/26/49

Location: Episkopi

Eligibility: LEC UKFM/UKN

Closing date: 11/10/2026 (Midnight, Cyprus local time)

Official listing: SBA Administration vacancies

Original advert: View the official PDF

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR

PRACTITIONER

ADVERT

Vacancy Campaign Number: HR/26/49

Terms & Conditions of Employment

This is a rolling advert with some positions currently For information on the

available; successful candidates will be placed on a reserve process or the application

list depending on the preferences they have selected on the please contact the

Preference Form (Weblink) and the outcome of the interviews. Resource Administrator:

The recruitment process is fair and open competition and Mrs Angela Ioannou

people will be judged on their own merit. As this is a rolling

on 00357 25 96 2385

advert and selection interviews will take place every few

weeks, when a vacancy arises, priority will be given to those Operating hours:

who were interviewed first. Monday to Thursday:

08:00 – 14:00

The below details are the options of future positions:

Friday: 08:00 – 12:00

1. Contract Type: Full Year (52 weeks) or Term Time (38

weeks)

2. Grade: Senior Practitioner – EYQKP3

3. Salary: €13.23 per hour, plus Cost-of-Living Allowance

(COLA)

4. Hours per week: Depending on business needs.

5. Location: Episkopi Early Years

6. General_Terms_Conditions_Employment_New_Recruits

(Weblink). Please note that the Pay paragraph of this

document is not applicable for Education Grades.

7. Closing Date: 11/10/2026, Midnight, Local Cyprus Time

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

Special Discount

For all staff successful on full year contracts (52 weeks), on full time or part time hours, the

organization can offer a 50% discount on all childcare costs in Early Years during the holiday period.

The organization retains its right to review, change or remove the discount at any time. Additionally,

the Early Years offer a two-week Christmas closure, three extra privileged days off each year in

addition to public holidays, paid training inset days and various training opportunities available

through your time at the setting.

ABOUT THE JOB

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Early Years Senior Practitioner looking to

take the next step in their career. We are looking for an enthusiastic, qualified, hardworking

senior practitioner keen to make a difference and support children to ensure they have the time

to play and explore, the opportunity to talk and question, wonder and investigate, build the

confidence to discover, create, and learn.

Under the direction of the room leader, you will help to manage the room by example to others.

The team will learn and perform by how you perform your own role on a day to day basis and

continually strive for best practice in yourself and inspiring others.

The Senior Practitioner role was created to provide a promotional path to experienced and

qualified applicants who have excelled in their roles and who have shown the ability to develop

their skills and knowledge. This role provides a good grounding in the skills required to be Room

Leader.

If you are passionate about working with children and inspiring them to achieve their full

potential Early Years Cyprus is a great place to work. We adopt the latest thinking and research

in the field of early education and therefore have a regular programme of continuing

professional development to support our practitioners to not only confidently deliver the EYFS

but be inspirational in their practice.

We don’t settle for people who can just do the job, we are looking for people that go beyond that

and always push us to be better than yesterday. We are therefore looking to recruit a friendly,

experienced individual who will embrace our values and join our wonderful team. If you are

committed to contributing to our younger generation’s formative years and want to be part of a

unique setting offering opportunities to advance your career in childcare.

Your days will be fun, messy, indoors, outdoors, quiet, creative, explorative, child-led, and free,

but never the same! The early years are a magical time, and we want people in our team to

harness every child’s individual sparkle! To nurture that seed of magic with love and care to

inspire every individual child. Finally, you must be prepared to feel loved, special, and important

to many young children and their families. There is simply no other job quite like this one.

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

Eligibility – Are you eligible to apply?

To be eligible to apply for this role, you must be a UK Family Member with a valid for

employment Status Stamp. If you are yet to receive your status stamp, please

contact the Resource Team.

UK Nationals are welcome to apply and can be considered for a permanent

contract subject to availability of permanent contracts to UK Nationals. If the UK

National permanent contracts have been filled, the UKNs may be placed on a

reserve list for future vacancies, or offered temporary contracts subject to

availability and confirmation by Civilian HR.

Applications from individuals that have either reached or passed the BFC / SBAA

Normal Retirement age of 65 will not be accepted.

Essential & Desirable Criteria for the Role

Important Note: Details on the role can be found on the Job Description which is at the end of

this document. These criteria are part of the assessment criteria and will influence the decision

on whether your application will proceed to the next stage.

Essential

1. Full and Relevant Nationally Accredited Minimum Level 3 Early Years (or Equivalent).

(You must provide a copy of your qualifications when submitting your application

form.)

2. Level 2 or GCSE C English and Math.

3. 1/2 years’ experience of working in an Early Years setting

4. Paediatric First Aid or undertake Paediatric First Aid training once recruited into the

role.

5. Extensive working knowledge of the EYFS, the curiosity approach and in the moment

planning

6. Extensive knowledge of child development and the key person role

7. Knowledge and proven practical experience of implementing good quality learning

opportunities

8. An understanding of, and a commitment in working to the principles of Equality of

Opportunity and how to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities in

accordance with statutory requirements of the EYFS (DfE 2017)

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

9. Encourage other staff and children to appreciate and value each other’s similarities and

differences and teach them about the diversity in the immediate and wider community.

10. You must undergo and pass as security & police check. If you are found successful,

you will be requested to provide a Clean Criminal Record and a Sex Offenders

Certificate issued by the Republic of Cyprus. For UKFMs that will be found successful

on this advert and who have lived on island for longer than 18 months, will be requested

to provide a Clean Criminal Record and a Sex Offenders Certificate issued by the

Republic of Cyprus.

11. All candidates who have lived in the UK, must undergo and pass an Enhanced

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

12. As part of the Safer Recruitment process, successful candidates must provide, upon

employment, clean criminal records from all countries they have lived in the last 10

years.

13. As part of the Safer Recruitment process, candidates must provide their full

employment history on the application form and justify any gaps in employment.

14. If you are found successful on this campaign, we will be requesting references,

therefore, ensure to have completed this information on your application form. To

underline, we do not accept references from relatives and friends.

15. As part of the Safer Recruitment Process, we may conduct social media checks.

16. Candidates must have an understanding on Safeguarding children and vulnerable

adults. For further information, read below the Safer Recruitment Statement and

Keeping children safe in education UK (WEB LINK)

17. Candidates must complete the Self Declaration form related to criminal convictions

background. Any information disclosed on the Self Declaration form will not

automatically disqualify a candidate, the information will be assessed on a case-by-

case basis and considering that the role will be working with children and vulnerable

adults.

18. Awareness of Data Protection practices and importance to protect the personal

information of children and vulnerable adults.

19. A good knowledge of office-based IT is needed, including Microsoft Office packages

(Word, Excel, Outlook) and electronic filing practices.

20. The ability to communicate in English both verbally and in writing is an essential part of

this role.

21. Hold a full driving licence and be prepared to self-drive an MT vehicle (prepared to

maintain or obtain FMT600 or MyDrive) across WSBA and ESBA or occasionally in the

Republic of Cyprus

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

Safer Recruitment Statement – Safeguarding

The British Forces Cyprus and Sovereign Base Areas Administration are committed to

safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. To achieve this we, as

much as practically, apply the Safer Recruitment practices as those have been defined in

the United Kingdom. As part of our safer recruitment process, all applicants will be

subject to appropriate screening and background checks, including reference and online

checks, where applicable enhanced disclosure through Disclosure and Barring checks

and local police checks, therefore, we seek a series of information on the application

form that would help us identify suitable individuals to work with children, young people

and vulnerable adults.

Official Language

The official language of the Sovereign Base Areas is English and consequently English

is the official language of British Forces Cyprus and Sovereign Base Areas

Administration. All documents are to be completed in this language. All employees of

the Sovereign Base Areas Administration and British Forces Cyprus are expected to

have a basic command of the English language as a pre-requisite for employment.

How to apply

a. To apply for this role you must complete the Preference Form (Weblink) and submit an

SBAA BFC Safer Recruitment Application (weblink) and include evidence on how you

meet the below Competences. The completion of the competences is mandatory. If you

do not demonstrate evidence of the below competences, your application will be sifted

out. Additionally, please note that we can only accept applications as attachments to

email on its original Word Document format. No hard copy applications will be accepted.

Any forms that are submitted in any other format e.g., links to One Drive, bitmap, jpeg,

pdf will not be considered.

You may find Competences Examples here, please ensure to adjust these to the

applicable Competence Framework (Weblink)

1. Working Together

2. Support for Learning Activities

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

3. Support Learning Environment

4. Support children’s well-being and

resilience

b. This role is assessed through the use of the Early_Years_Competence_Framework

(Weblink), therefore, you are kindly invited to read the document to assist you with

writing your competences.

c. For further information about the role please contact Mrs Becky Shortman 00357 2596

8040.

d. For further recruitment information and guidance please choose the appropriate

guidance: UK Family Members Q&A Application Process

e. Once completed electronically please send your application by email to:

BFC-SBAA-Recruitment-GpMailbox@mod.gov.uk.

Important Note: Ensure that your application has been correctly completed and all relevant

information has been provided. Failure to do so may result in your application being

excluded.

The recruitment process.

Please note that this recruitment process is associated with the recruitment of Locally

Employed Civilians (LECs).

The recruitment process is a fair and open competition and candidates are judged on their

own merit.

Please read the information on The Recruitment Process Stages Guide for Applicants

(Weblink) to help you understand the process. The document will explain the recruitment

process stages and enhance your understanding on it.

Additionally, as we want you to show the best version of yourself, we invite you to read the

guides available which should help you understand what you need to do to stand out. If you

feel you need further support, please contact the Resource Admin responsible for this

campaign, you can find the contact details on the front page of this advert.

Job Description

What you’ll need to succeed

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

o Demonstrate a passion for childcare and be an advocate for the early years sector

o Demonstrate a passion for enabling children to learn

where-ever and however is best for them.

o Be a role model for your colleagues.

o Reflect on your practice and look for ways to improve.

o Provide inspiration to nursery children through exciting

activities in all areas of learning whilst incorporating

EYFS, curiosity approach and in the moment planning

o Raise the profile and the benefits of personal

development and learning with their colleagues

o Be constantly looking for ways in which the setting could

be improved and developed, making a thriving

environment dedicated to improving standards

o Good communication skills, both oral and written, including the ability to communicate

effectively with a variety of agencies.

o You must provide 2 professional references. (Standing requirement).

All members of the nursery team have a responsibility towards promoting safeguarding the

welfare of children and/or vulnerable persons in their role

All members of the nursery team will safeguard children in accordance with British Forces

Cyprus Safeguarding Children’s Board and the statutory framework for the early years

foundation stage (EYFS) (Department for Education (DFE) 2017)

Required qualifications, experience and skills

• Full and Relevant Nationally Accredited Level 3 Early Years (or Local Equivalent)

• Level 2 or GCSE C English and Maths

• 1/2 years’ experience of working in an Early Years setting

• Paediatric First Aid or undertake Paediatric First Aid training once recruited into the role

• Extensive working knowledge of the EYFS, the curiosity approach and in the moment

planning

• Extensive Knowledge of child development

• Knowledge and proven practical experience of implementing good quality learning

opportunities

• An understanding of, and a commitment in working to the principles of Equality of

Opportunity and how to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities in

accordance with statutory requirements of the EYFS (DfE 2017)

• Encourage the staff team and children to appreciate and value each other; our similarities

and differences and

teach them about the diversity in their immediate and wider community.

• Hold a driving licence

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

What we can offer you

• A full programme of essential EYFS Training units delivered to meet EYFS welfare

requirements and the needs of the setting

• The support and mentoring required to enable you to achieve any further relevant,

accredited childcare qualifications such as an NVQ level 4.

• High-quality Continuous Professional Development opportunities; led by internal and

external Early Years experts and researchers.

• Working and mentored by a Team of professionals surrounded by our wonderful little

people to keep you on your toes within a community where you’re valued

Our values

• Children are born ready to learn.

• Children have the right to secure, trusting relationships with adults and to safe, nurturing

environments.

• Children learn through play.

• Children construct their own knowledge based on their curiosity are and driven by their

interests

• Children learn best when exposed to and engaged in high-quality environments,

interactions, and relationships

• Children learn best when the adults in their life work in partnership with one another

Main duties and responsibilities

• To be vigilant and protect children from harm or abuse, reporting any concerns

immediately – in accordance with child protection and whistleblowing policies

• Have a sound knowledge and understanding of and uphold safeguarding procedures

and strategies ensuring that all children are safeguarded and appropriately supervised

at all times

• Support other team members to carry out health and safety checks as required to

ensure the room / nursery is tidy, safe, clean and secure for children, staff,

parents/carers and visitors

• As part of the Nursery team under the direction of the Room Leader support the room

leader to deliver the early years foundation stage framework and any other appropriate

guidance for children in accordance with statutory and nursery policy and guidelines

• Support the room leader to ensure that the children engage in activities that develop

their potential and that creativity is fostered within their learning environment, and that

they develop their interests and engage in positive social interaction.

• Support the room leader to plan a curriculum that adheres to the nursery philosophy that

young children learn best through play.

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EARLY YEARS SENIOR PRACTITIONER – EPISKOPI

VACANCY NUMBER: HR/26/49

• Help create an environment that nurtures children’s curiosity to question why things

happen and to develop the confidence to problem-solve for themselves and in

collaboration with their peers and the adults who work with them.

• Cover for other staff as appropriate and as directed by your manager, especially given

that unforeseen situation can occur when caring for children and recognising that the

child’s welfare is paramount

• Act as a key person for a group of children providing each child with continuity of care

throughout the child’s time at the setting, in partnership with their parent/carers:

o Develop a loving and secure relationship with each key child.

o Help each key child to become familiar with and confident in the setting.

o Look after each key child’s care and welfare needs e.g. dressing, toilet training,

eating, sleeping, being comforted.

o Build trusted relationships with each key child’s parents, ensuring there are

regular opportunities to share information on the child’s development at home

and in the setting.

o Support each key child’s individual learning journey through on-going

observation, assessment and planning in partnership with parents/carers and

other colleagues

o Complete reviews of key children in partnership with and parents/carers and

multi-agency professionals as appropriate (eg 2 Year Progress Check)

• To work across the whole learning environment – indoors and out. The outdoor

environment is a very important aspect of our provision and is used in all weather

conditions.

• A Senior Practitioner is not required to have the same responsibility as the Room Leader

for staff management tasks such as mentoring, training, induction, although will be

asked to participate as appropriate.

• To attend reasonable out-of-working-hours activities, including training, staff meetings,

parents evenings and special events

• To attend and help organise events arranged for the children and to benefit the children,

families and setting as a whole

• To keep completely confidential any information regarding the children, their families or

other staff that is acquired as part of the job.

• To read, understand and adhere to all policies and procedures relevant to your role and

the safe running of the setting.

• To undertake any other aspects of nursery work according to need. This job description

is intended to give you an indication of the main duties, but is not meant to be an

exhaustive list.

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Links contained in the official document

• https://www.sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/SBAA_BFC_Preference_Form_DCYP_Early_Years.doc
• https://www.sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/General_Terms_Conditions_Employment_new_employees.pdf
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68add931969253904d155860/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_from_1_September_2025.pdf
• https://sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/2025-SBAA_BFC_Safer_Recruitment_Application_form.doc
• https://sbaadministration.org/images/admin/personnel/20231013-Core_Competences_Examples.pdf
• https://www.sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/Early_Years_Competence_Framework.doc
• https://www.sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/20230118-UK_Family_Members_Q&A_Application_Process.pdf
• BFC-SBAA-Recruitment-GpMailbox@mod.gov.uk
• https://www.sbaadministration.org/images/recruit/Recruitment_Process_Stages_Guide_for_Applicants.pdf

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