Nursery Assistant CV Examples & UK Templates

Being a nursery assistant is a rewarding job. No two days will be the same as you support young children to build foundational skills at a crucial stage in their development. You’re also a lifesaver to working parents! Understandably, nurseries are seeking assistants who can provide the best possible care to children. So, how can you stand out as the nursery assistant to hire?

By creating a well-written CV that highlights your strong qualifications and even stronger professional standards.

Working in a nursery requires imagination and creativity as you engage young children (often for five minutes!) in an activity. With hiring managers, you have even less time. Research shows that recruiters spend mere seconds reviewing a CV, so it’s vital to quickly attract their attention and make a great first impression.       

CV guide for a nursery assistant CV

Accelerate success with Resume.io. Our guides and CV examples cover over 150 professions, and our CV builder makes creating a compelling CV easier than ever. 

This CV guide and corresponding nursery assistant CV example will cover the following:

• How to write a nursery assistant CV
• Choosing the right format for a nursery assistant CV
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your experience
• Listing education and relevant certifications
• Picking the right CV design/layout

How to write a nursery assistant CV

Before you write your nursery assistant CV, it’s crucial to understand which sections to include. Here’s a breakdown of what your CV should cover:

• The CV header
• The CV summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The CV skills section
• The education section

The goal of your CV is to present you as the best candidate for the nursery assistant role. Conducting research into the specific role, nursery, and team will give you a good sense of what the employer is looking for. Similar to preparing the nursery at the start of each day, gathering information before you create your CV will help you target your application in the right direction. 

Follow this formula to create a job-winning nursery assistant CV:

• Highlight any childcare experience by creating action-based statements in your profile and work history sections. Rather than just listing nursery assistant duties on your CV, use active verbs to describe what you did and what you achieved.
• Tailor your CV for each nursery environment. Whether a day nursery, reception setting, private nursery, or children’s centre, each will require a different tone and approach. Getting this right will help you build rapport with the hiring manager.
• Emphasise your soft skills. Creativity, communication, and collaboration skills are examples of the types of skills nursery managers will be seeking.
• Keep your CV short and sweet. Stick to one or two pages as a maximum to avoid the hiring manager experiencing information overload.

Choosing the right CV format for a nursery assistant

Nursery classrooms tend to be bold and bright in their decor. However, you need to reign this creativity in and go for a more traditional format when creating your nursery assistant CV. 

Hiring managers receive hundreds of CVs after posting a job, so your CV must be direct and impactful in an easy-to-read format. For most nursery assistants the reverse chronological is a great choice. This CV format focuses on your most recent and relevant career highlights first, then works back to earlier roles. Check out our example below.

Those just starting out in their childcare career may need another option, such as the functional CV format. This structure prioritises skills and strengths, with work experience detailed at the end of the CV by simply job title, company name, and dates of employment.

Luckily, you don’t need to worry about creating your CV from scratch. Explore our professional CV templates to find a format that best suits your situation and adapt this to your unique situation. We also have a range of CV examples that are ideal for educators. 

Look for a simple and straightforward design for your nursery assistant CV. Selecting a clean, modern CV layout will ensure your CV is easy to read by both humans and ATS software. 

Include your contact information

Moving on, the next thing to tackle is your CV header. This is the first thing the nursery manager will see so it needs to be pitch-perfect. 

Projecting your professionalism here will set the tone for the remainder of your CV. Here’s what you need to include: 

• Full name & title. Begin by introducing yourself with your full name and the specific role you are targeting.
• Professional email address. Steer clear of unconventional email addresses. Opt for a professional format such as [email protected].
• Phone number. Provide a phone number where you can easily be reached, along with an appropriate voicemail greeting.
• Location. Specify your city or general location. Avoid listing street addresses or full postcodes, as this is outdated and unsafe.
• LinkedIn. Include a URL to your LinkedIn profile. Just make sure it’s updated and consistent with your CV.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: This is not required in the UK and could lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details: Marital status, number of children, NI number, etc.

Make use of a summary

Working with young children requires the ability to be enthusiastic and engaging. Your personal profile also needs these attributes. This section serves as an introduction to the rest of your CV, so it should be a compelling summary of your best skills, qualities, and childcare experience.

Stick to three or four key sentences that outline the level of your experience, standout achievements, and your top-level soft skills. Phrase this in a way that shows your enthusiasm for the nursery assistant role and passion for early years education.     

Action verbs are a great tool that can help you achieve this goal. Verbs such as ‘inspired,’ ‘engaged,’ ‘revitalised,’ and ‘collaborated,’ are powerful and persuasive when used to describe your skills and experience. The overall result is a more impressive professional profile.    

Try to avoid regurgitating details from other sections on your CV, particularly the employment history section. A unique profile that paints a broader picture of your skills and experience will be more successful. For example, ‘Adept at creating a fun, safe, and stimulating environment for children in line with the early years framework and the unique needs of each child.’

A professional profile is a golden opportunity to communicate directly with a hiring manager and create a great first impression. Be authentic and confident in your tone, but avoid the temptation to be overconfident or embellish your experience. 

You can find adaptable nursery assistant CV example summaries below:

Outline your nursery work experience: inspiring the next generation

Next is the work experience section. This section provides a golden opportunity to inspire the nursery manager to invite you for an interview. Recent and relevant work experience will be on the recruiter’s radar, so it’s vital to tick all the boxes in the job description.

Start by listing your current (or most recent) job at the beginning of this section, then work back in reverse chronological order to earlier roles. There’s no need to list every single job you have ever had. Stick to covering no more than 10-15 years. Underneath employer and role headings, create action-based, concise bullet points focused on your achievements. 

Don’t forget to include action verbs to make your experience section more impactful. Verbs such as ‘created,’ ‘improved,’ ‘inspired,’ ‘collaborated,’ ‘informed,’ and ‘educated,’ will allow your experience to shine rather than blend into the background. 

Results and positive outcomes will generate the most interest in your work experience section. Avoid simply listing the core responsibilities from your current or previous nursery experience. For example:

• “Planned and supervised nursery activities”
• “Observed children and monitored behaviour”
• “Gave updates to parents and management”

While it can sometimes be tricky to include quantifiable achievements when working in a nursery assistant role, you can still revamp these phrases so they sound more positive. Think about the important role you play in a child’s formative years, by ensuring children are safe, secure, and have the opportunity to learn in nurturing and stimulating environments. 

Check out these reworked versions:

• “Planned and delivered engaging and age-appropriate activities that promote emotional, social, and cognitive development”
• “Accurately updated records following monitoring of children’s progress, routines, and daily activities”
• “Applied strong communication skills to establish positive relationships with parents”

Take a look at the nursery assistant employment history CV sample below:

How to write a nursery assistant CV with no experience

When crafting a nursery assistant CV without direct experience, it's essential to emphasise transferable skills and your passion for the early years child care sector. 

Part-time jobs and volunteer work should be included on your nursery assistant CV as they provide valuable transferable skills. For example, you may have volunteered at a local community centre and boosted your organisation, collaboration, and communication skills. 

Of course, any direct experience should take priority, so highlight any babysitting gigs or roles involving childcare that you have successfully completed. You can then link this experience to your passion for pursuing a career in the childcare sector. 

While you don’t need formal qualifications in child care to become a nursery assistant, current studies toward BTEC, NVQ, or CACHE qualifications are worth highlighting. This is particularly helpful if you’re pursuing a career change. 

You will also need a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check that provides a copy of your criminal record. You can add this information to your CV as in process or in place.

Including these elements in your CV will demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to securing a nursery assistant position, even if you have no direct experience.

Include the relevant key skills that make a great nursery assistant CV

When listing skills on your CV, combine hard skills to show your early years child care expertise with soft skills to demonstrate your behavioural approaches and people skills. 

Start with hard skills that are industry-specific, such as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, child development, first aid, and CPR certification. 

Follow this with your relevant soft skills. This could include creativity, communication, active listening, empathy, and teamwork. In the context of a nursery assistant, these skills can often be equally as valuable as any hard skills.

If you need some help identifying in-demand skills, our CV builder offers many pre-prepared key skills to choose from with different proficiency ranges you can set. You can also include your own unique skills.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our nursery assistant CV template. 

Don’t restrict your key skills to just this section. Sprinkle these terms across your CV when describing your experience and achievements, so you can demonstrate these skills in action. 

For example, in your professional profile and work experience, highlight your: 

• Childhood development skills by organising age-appropriate activities that promote cognitive, social, and emotional development.
• Communication skills by engaging with parents while delivering regular updates and addressing any concerns.
• Teamwork by directly supporting staff in supervising and engaging children in play and learning activities.

The best reference point for key skills is the specific job description. You can also research similar roles to get an idea of in-demand skills in reception settings.

Detail your education & relevant nursery assistant certifications

The education section should be pretty straightforward on your nursery assistant CV. List your academic studies in reverse chronological order. If you have completed CACHE, BTEC or NVQ qualifications and have significant work experience, you can omit your high school education.

This section is a great opportunity to list any certifications or training. For example,

• Training and certifications. Courses completed in first aid, CPR, food hygiene, and Health and Safety show your commitment to care in an early years environment.
• Work placements. If you’ve completed any placements as part of your childcare studies, refer to them in your education section. Another option is to detail this information in your work experience section.

Check out the education section from our adaptable CV sample below:

Pick the right CV layout and design for a nursery assistant CV

Just like an organised and effective nursery classroom, the layout and design of your nursery assistant CV should flow, make sense, and be presented in an attractive and appealing way. When your CV lands in the nursery manager’s inbox, you want them to be instantly impressed.

Section headers will help improve readability for the hiring manager. These can be in a larger font than the rest of the content and in bold to stand out. Consider using a two-column layout on your CV to maximise space. This will help you include different sections while maintaining a modern and attractive look.

Avoid design-heavy formats. While a splash of colour is perfectly fine, charts, images, and fancy fonts are not usually favoured by recruiters and ATS may struggle to parse the information on your CV correctly.

Crafting a perfectly formatted CV can be time-consuming, but you can speed this process up by using our field-tested CV templates. Check out these job-winning templates and avoid those annoying CV design and formatting issues.

Nursery assistant text-only CV example

Key takeaways for building a nursery assistant CV

Working as a nursery assistant is fun and rewarding, where every day is different, and you’re able to make a positive impact as you support young children to build foundational skills. Communicating your stellar communication skills, creativity, and passion for early childhood education via your CV can help you land the plum nursery jobs.  

Get started by using our online CV builder to streamline the application process, enabling you to move forward quickly as you start or advance your career as a nursery assistant.