Inclusion Early Support Lead

Job Title: Inclusion Early Support Lead

Salary: From £DOE

Location: Hybrid / Field based (area specific)

Type of Role: Full Time / Permanent / 37.50

Travel: Travel expected to our offices, HO in Northampton and offices in London / Nursery settings. Working from a home base, regular travel to nurseries in England some travel to nurseries across England and Scotland is a requirement of this role.

Closing Date: 28th February 2026

The Inclusion Early Support Lead (IESL) is a peripatetic role (some home and some field-based working) within the Early Childhood Education Team at Bright Horizons UK and provides hands‑on inclusion and pedagogical advice and support for nursery teams to improve the interventions and outcomes for children under 5, who are vulnerable, have Special Educational needs or disabilities or Additional Support for Learning.

This includes Speech, Language and Communication (SLCN) needs, English as an additional language (EAL) or children where early intervention is needed to support their emotional wellbeing needs (EWN), by working in partnership with the Head of Inclusion, Heads of Early Childhood, Early Childhood Specialists, Nursery Management teams, SENCOs and nursery practitioners through the provision of high‑quality training, advice and support.

The role prioritises the voice of the child through the Children’s Voice Charter, ensuring decisions are informed by children’s lived experiences.

This role involves nursery visits to targeted sites, as directed by the Head of Inclusion, delivering intensive support where it is required. The IESL is required to deliver specialist training and advice around special educational needs and disabilities, The Nurture Model, Thrive and speech, language and communication needs to enable children to receive and nurseries to achieve the highest quality care and education practices.

The IESL’s key role is to support vulnerable children and families, including children with SEND/ASL and SLCN and EN secures Bright Horizons as the provider of choice for families and corporate clients.

In addition, the IESL will provide remote support to Nurseries, through the Inclusion Help Desk including general advice and guidance and specific support in relation to Education, Health Care Plans, local authority funding models and other regulatory/legal guidance.

The role works alongside the Head of Inclusion and the wider Early Childhood Team, to drive our support for children with additional needs.

The IESL will also work closely with Early Childhood Specialists to implement both the Early Childhood and Inclusion strategies, identifying the priorities for vulnerable children and children with SEND/ASL and/or SLCN and or EWN including EAL. The IESL will offer advice and support in collaboration with colleagues from Health & Safety, Safeguarding, HR and Operation teams, liaising closely with external partners in Local Authorities and regulatory bodies, as appropriate, to promote high-quality nursery environments and best practice pedagogy.

The IESL understands their responsibility of all elements of Keeping Everyone Safe, including sharing concerns about the suitability of colleagues in accordance with regulatory duty.

The IESL will provide coaching and mentoring to Nursery Management teams, nursery SENCOs and practitioners, including attending meetings (team meetings, review meetings etc).

This post-holder will work closely with the Head of Inclusion to target improvement and deliver training both face-to-face and virtually. The post will provide support to embed The Nurture Model and Inclusion strategy.

The IESL will elevate Bright Horizons’ commitment to emotionally responsive, inclusive early years education through leading the national implementation of the Thrive Approach and Nurture Model frameworks, including the delivery of remote and face to face training, to enhance children’s emotional wellbeing, resilience, and developmental outcomes.

• Embed the Children’s Voice Charter by ensuring children’s views and non-verbal communication inform inclusion strategies and interventions
• Ensure all inclusion practices comply with…