Heart Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub

Helping Early years practitioners Apply Research to Teaching and learning

The Midland’s Stronger Practice Hub Partnership consists of:

Local Authorities covered:

Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Solihull, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. You can find more information about the programme on the national Stronger Practice Hubs website.

What’s involved?

The DfE have announced that Early Years Stronger Practice hubs will continue to be funded until at least March 2029!

We will continue to support other nurseries and childminders in their area to adopt evidence-based practice improvements by:

Building on and strengthening local networks of early years educators to share knowledge and effective practice
Proactively sharing information and advice on evidence-based approaches - for example, through newsletters, blogs and social media
Acting as a point of contact for bespoke advice and signposting to other funded support
Working with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to select evidence-based programmes to fund and make available to nurseries and childminders.

Please feel free to view and download the DfE’s privacy notice for the Stronger Practice Hubs programme.

This is an exciting partnership, working collaboratively with the Local Authorities across the West Midlands, along with the Birmingham Early Years Networks (BEYN), to continue to build on and strengthen our existing support for early years within Birmingham and beyond.

Join our team!

The HEART Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub (EYSPH) is seeking a skilled and creative Digital Communications Officer to lead our digital communications, events promotion, and website content activity as we enter Phase Two of the national Stronger Practice Hub programme.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the digital presence of a regional hub that supports early years practitioners with evidence-informed practice, high-quality CPD, and accessible information and advice.

Freelance contract | 2 days/16 hours per week (negotiable) | Remote working (candidate must be UK-based)
1-year contract initially, with potential extension for a further 2 years
Rate £250 per day (DfE-approved rate, based on an 8-hour day)

How to apply

For full details, including the job description (key responsibilities) and person specification, please download the full job advert: Digital Communications Officer - Full Job Description and Person Specification

To apply, please provide:

An up-to-date CV
A covering letter of no more than 1,000 words setting out how you meet the person specification for the job
Details of two referees, including your most recent contract or line manager

Applications should be emailed to info@heartmidsph.co.uk with the subject line: FAO Sally Davies – DCO application.

Closing date: Mon 13 April 2026, 5:00 pm

Interviews: Online interviews will be held w/c 27 April, via MS Teams

HEART Midlands EYSPH is committed to creating an inclusive recruitment process, and we welcome applications from everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments, content in a different format, or an alternate way to submit your application or register your interest, please get in touch with Sally Davies at info@heartmidsph.co.uk to discuss your needs.

HEART Hub Activities Calendar 2025/26

Click here to visit our Stronger Practice Hub page on the national NCB website