Best Start in Life Advisor

About The RoleDorset Council are passionate about all children being able to access a high-quality early education that promotes high standards, is appropriate to their needs, and helps them to achieve their best possible outcomes
We want our children to have the best possible start in life, with a specific focus from pre-conception to being ready for the transition to school.
The Best Start in Life Advisors manage a caseload of early years settings. This will be a mix of registered childminders, wraparound providers, and ‘group’ provision e.g. pre-schools and nurseries.
This role will support early years settings to meet the needs of children through the requirements of theEarly Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. We have a statutory duty to provide information, advice, and training to early years practitioners and those who wish to register as a childcare provider.
The Advisor will work with setting leaders to review the approach to delivering the curriculum for all children. This will include children who are considered to be vulnerable and at risk of achieving their full potential. This might include children who:
•have English as an additional language
•are in care
•experience poverty, poor housing, and access to other activities
•experience adverse childhood experiences
•in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium or 2-year-old funding
•have additional needs and, or a disability
The role will support early years practitioners to take the approach that ‘SEND is everybody’s business’ and will support practitioners to:
•understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEN
•advise and support each other
•ensure parents and carers are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform action taken by the setting, and liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting
The role will support the setting to evaluate their own provision, identifying actions and improvements in order to be judged ‘Good or Outstanding’ in an Ofsted inspection.
Information, advice, and training will be delivered to settings in a variety of ways including through role modelling, planning, and delivering activities alongside practitioners, guiding setting staff in delivery of activities to support children’s development.
This is an exciting time for the early years sector as the 2023 Government childcare announcements have meant an increase in the funded childcare offer for working parents. By September 2025, working parents of a child under five will be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare per week. Advisors will also work with colleagues and settings to support the expansion of wraparound provision (before and after school) for primary school children to be able to access in their local area.
This role is varied, and the main areas of focus will be:
building the capacity of practitioners to meet the individual needs of all children, but particularly those at risk of poor outcomes.
ensuring that children with a SEND need are able to take up their full entitlement.
supporting early identification of need, particularly in relation to new entitlements for children under 3.
supporting new and existing providers as part of a wider locality team.
facilitating effective transition arrangements between providers for those children with emerging needs or SEND.
taking responsibility for developing and leading training sessions around inclusion issues including effective use of the Early Years Ordinarily Available Provision in the setting.
disseminating information about early years entitlements and other funding streams, particularly those related to SEND and support providers to make best use of any additional funds.
supporting the delivery of the Dorset Council Best Start in Life ambitions in the Children Young People and Families Plan 2023-#####
Further InformationFor an informal conversation about the vacancy please contact Liz Curtis-Jones,##### 01305 225601.
This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.
See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.
About Us
We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.
At Dorset Council we:
provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
have ambitious aspirations
are excited about our future
care about Dorset and all the people who live here
know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success
You will:
have access toa range of employee benefits
be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression
We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities.We have a commitment to equalityand welcome applications from everyone.
We areproud to be a Disability Confident Employer.We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.
We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.
We also look for applicants who shareour commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.
If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at
This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.
We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.
Find out more abouthow to apply.
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