Preschool Teacher: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a preschool teacher?

Preschool teachers play a central role in delivering age-appropriate learning in a supportive, structured environment for children in nurseries, early years, reception or foundation stage classes. You may be recruiting for this role if you’re opening a new preschool, expanding an existing class or replacing a departing staff member. Finding the right candidate can improve the quality of care and education provided and strengthen your school’s reputation.

Contributions of a great preschool teacher:

• Supporting the cognitive, emotional and social development of young children
• Encouraging independence, curiosity and creativity through play-based learning
• Monitoring developmental milestones, communicating with parents and looking out for child welfare

What are the types of preschool teachers?

Preschool teachers can mainly be categorised by their years of experience, whether they have any specialist skills (such as teaching children with SEND) and which teaching pedagogy they follow. EYFS is the most common curriculum in the UK, but alternative structures such as Steiner-Waldorf or forest schools can be popular too.

Depending on your staffing setup, you may want to divide your preschool teachers into junior and senior ranks, with less experienced teachers taking on more of a support role, while highly qualified employees with a strong track record adopt a leadership position. You may even designate certain administrative or managerial tasks to your preschool teacher, though it’s important to reflect this in your job description and proposed salary.

Similar positions to a preschool teacher include:

• Nursery practitioner: working with babies and young children in a nursery overseeing care, play and structured activities
• Early years educator: holds a Level 3 qualification and works with children under five, delivering the EYFS framework to prepare children for school
• Teaching assistant: supporting qualified preschool teachers in the classroom, typically helping wherever they’re needed

When writing your preschool teacher job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on preschool teacher jobs, according to Indeed data:

• School
• Nursery
• Childcare
• Term time only
• Pre school
• Early years
• Term time
• Early years educator
• Early years practitioner
• Teaching assistant

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Where to find preschool teachers?

To find the right preschool teacher for your school or setting, consider trying out a few different recruitment strategies:

• University and college programmes: partner with institutions offering early childhood education or childcare diplomas to connect with recent graduates
• Referrals from existing employees or nursery and school networks: staff or peers in your network may know of reliable preschool teachers looking for a new role. Local nurseries, children’s centres and primary schools often have job boards or referral schemes.
• Early years education forums: professional associations and teaching communities often post job listings or have active social media accounts where candidates and employers can connect.
• Post your job online: try posting your preschool teacher job on Indeed to find and attract quality preschool teacher candidates.

Skills to look for in a preschool teacher

A successful preschool teacher candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• Knowledge of child development: understanding of age-appropriate learning, emotional needs and developmental milestones
• Communication skills: ability to engage positively with children, parents and colleagues, both verbally and in writing
• Creativity and adaptability: confidence with creative tasks and supporting children’s imaginations, along with the ability to cope with change
• Behaviour management: positive strategies to handling challenging behaviour and maintaining a calm, structured environment
• Safeguarding protocols: an understanding of child protection policies and how to respond to concerns appropriately, as well as knowledge of safety at work and basic first aid

Writing a preschool teacher job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular jobseeker search terms and recruitment insights for a preschool teacher, you’re ready to write a job description.

A preschool teacher job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your school’s ethos, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Interviewing preschool teacher candidates

Strong candidates for preschool teacher positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Child development and learning theories
• Classroom management techniques
• The specific curriculum style they are experienced in
• Communication with parents and coworkers
• Health and safety practices and safeguarding protocols

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of preschool teacher interview questions for examples (with sample answers).