Nursery Nurse and Practitioner Interview Questions

I fell into childcare when I started helping at my local toddler group while I was at college, and I realised the bit I enjoyed most wasn't the crafts but watching the children change week to week. A little boy who wouldn't leave his mum's side in September was running in to find the trains by Christmas, and I knew I'd had something to do with that. Since then I've done my Level 3 placement in a baby room and a pre-school room, and I like the mix the job gives you: the care side, which is about making a child feel safe enough to explore, and the learning side, where you spot what interests them and build on it. I'm applying here because your nursery spends a lot of time outdoors, and that's where I've seen children at their most confident.

I'd start before the first day, by finding out from the parent what comforts the child, their routines, favourite toys and any words they use for things, so I can talk their language from the start. At drop-off I'd encourage the parent to say a short, clear goodbye rather than slipping out, because a child who's been tricked once tends to cling harder the next day. Then I'd stay close, get down to their level and offer comfort, maybe with their comforter or a familiar activity, without forcing them to join in. Some children want a cuddle and some want to watch from your lap for a while. I'd send the parent a quick message or photo once the child was calm, which helps the parent too. If a child was still very unsettled after a few weeks, I'd talk with the parent and the room leader about adjusting the settling-in plan.

Being a key person means being the one adult in the nursery that a child and their family know they can rely on. For the child, it's about a close bond, so they feel secure enough to explore and to come to me when they're tired, hurt or overwhelmed. Practically, I'd do most of their care routines, nappies, meals and sleep, because those are the moments when you build trust. For the family, I'm their main contact: I share how the day went at pick-up, listen to what's happening at home and make sure their child's learning journal reflects what they're actually like. I also keep track of each key child's development, write their observations and next steps, and contribute to the progress check at age two. When I'm off, I make sure another practitioner who knows the child is around, so they're never left with someone they don't know.

I plan from the children rather than from a theme I picked in advance. I watch what they're drawn to during free play, write short observations and use those to decide next steps for each child, then plan activities that build on their interests. If a group of two-year-olds are obsessed with filling and emptying containers, I might set up water play with jugs and funnels, which works on their physical development and gives me a chance to introduce words like full, empty, more and less. I keep the seven areas of learning in mind, with a particular focus on the three prime areas for the younger ones, and I make sure activities can be adapted so every child can join in at their own level. I also leave room for things to go off plan, because some of the best learning happens when a child takes an activity somewhere I didn't expect.

During my placement, a three-year-old I worked with started flinching when an adult raised an arm near her and had a bruise on her upper arm I hadn't seen before. When I asked how she'd hurt herself, she said, "Daddy was cross." I stayed calm, didn't ask any leading questions and didn't promise to keep it secret. I just said thank you for telling me. Straight after, I wrote down exactly what I'd seen and what she'd said, in her words, with the date and time, and passed it to the designated safeguarding lead that morning. I didn't speak to the parents or try to find out more, because that's not my role and it could have made things worse for her. The DSL took it forward with children's social care. It stayed with me, but I knew I'd followed the procedure, and that's what protects the child.

A dad came to pick up his son and was upset that he'd had a bump on the head that morning and nobody had phoned him. We'd recorded it on an accident form and he'd been fine all day, but I could see why he was worried. I took him somewhere quieter, listened without interrupting and apologised that he'd only found out at pick-up. I showed him the accident form, explained what had happened and how we'd checked on his son during the day, and asked him to sign it. I told him I'd let my room leader know he'd like a call for any head bump in future, and I did that the same evening. The next morning he thanked me for taking it seriously. We later changed our practice so that every head injury gets a phone call to the parent, whatever the severity.

I was key person for a little boy who wasn't using any words at nearly three and found group times very hard. I talked with his parents and our SENCO, and we agreed to use simple signs alongside speech and a visual timetable so he knew what was coming next. I made sure he had a quiet space he could go to when the room got loud, and I started small group sessions with just two other children instead of whole-room carpet time. I wrote regular observations so the SENCO had evidence for the referral to speech and language therapy. Over the next few months he started using signs to ask for things, then a handful of words, and he'd join the end of carpet time by himself. His mum told me that seeing him sign "more" at home was the first time she'd felt he was understood.

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the statutory framework every registered early years setting in England follows, from birth to the end of reception. It has two parts: the learning and development requirements, and the safeguarding and welfare requirements. On the learning side there are seven areas, the three prime areas of communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development, and four specific areas, literacy, maths, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design. It also describes the characteristics of effective learning: playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically. On the welfare side it covers things like ratios, the key person, staff qualifications, paediatric first aid, safeguarding and policies such as the use of mobile phones in the setting. For me the EYFS is less about tick lists and more about knowing each child well enough to plan their next step.

I observe children throughout the day, mostly short notes or a photo with a line about what the child did and said, plus longer observations now and then when I want to look at something specific, like how a child plays alongside others. What matters is what I do with it. Each observation should tell me something about where the child is and what they might be ready for next, so I link it to their interests and the areas of learning and set a next step. If a child is fascinated by the diggers outside, a next step might be counting the scoops of sand they move, which brings in maths through something they already love. I share observations with parents in the learning journal and ask what they see at home, because children often do things there they won't do at nursery. I try not to over-observe, as time spent recording is time not spent playing with the children.

A lot of safety happens in the routine stuff. I follow the nursery's intimate care and nappy changing procedures every time, with gloves and aprons, handwashing and cleaning the changing area between children, and I talk to the child throughout so it's done with them rather than to them. At mealtimes I check every child's dietary requirements and allergies against the list before serving, sit with them while they eat and watch for choking risks like whole grapes. For sleep, babies go down on their backs in a cot with nothing loose, and I check on sleeping children regularly and record it. I do a quick risk check of the room and garden before the children come in, and I always know the head count. If there's an accident, I give first aid, record it on an accident form and make sure the parent signs it at pick-up.