Lower School Administrator – Senior School Office
- Job title: Lower School Administrator - Senior School Office
- Job Type: Full time, term time only (36 weeks) plus 4 weeks
- Salary: £23,220 (FTE £27,000)
- Department: Senior School Office
- Reporting to: Senior School Office Manager
- Location: Highgate, North London
- Start: January 2024
- Closing Date: 5 January 2024 at 5:00 pm
We are looking for a positive and friendly administrator to join our team at Highgate School. If you have excellent attention to detail, strong IT skills and are a warm communicator, we’d love to hear from you.
The role involves with working with staff and pupils as well as front-facing work representing the school to parents and other agencies, whether that’s on the phone or via email. The administrative team set the tone of customer service for the school, so an approachable, calm and helpful attitude is essential at all times.
The administrator will provide high quality support with specific responsibility for Lower School registration, rewards and sanctions and general administration as required, in particular covering Reception duties when on occasion and providing support to the:
- Head of Lower School and Assistant Head
- Head of Year 8
- Head of Year 7
And support in the context of the following functions:
- Registration for Lower School pupils
- Rewards and Sanctions for Lower School pupils
- Trips and mailing administration for Lower School pupils
The team
The Administrative team are at the heart of this highly successful selective coeducational London day school providing daily support to a high professional level.
The School Office at Highgate provides administrative support to the Senior School staff and deals with queries from parents and carers, pupils, staff, governors and the general public. All work undertaken is run in a very professional and confidential manner, ensuring an efficient and professional service is provided by the team to the School community.
The Office team consists of 8 members of staff. The roles within the team cover a wide range of administrative tasks including the School’s pupil attendance system. Our friendly team consists of the following:
- School Office Manager
- Assistant Office Manager
- School Office Administrator and PA
- Lower School Administrator (Years 7-8)
- Middle School Administrator (Years 9, 10, 11)
- Sixth Form Administrator (Years 12, 13)
- Reception Administrator
- Reprographics Administrator
We act as front-line contacts for three main areas of the Senior School, the Lower School, the Middle School and the Sixth Form. This involves regular communication with parents and carers, contact with pupils, teachers and support staff as well as the administration generated by the general day-to-day running of the School.
The School Office is a central hub for our pupils and staff where pupils visit with general enquiries and to sign in and out of School. The team are committed to the safeguarding and welfare of our pupils and prides itself in delivering positive, nurturing and professional relationships across the School.
We ensure that the school office and receptions are welcoming for pupils, staff and visitors.
Main Responsibilities
Head of Lower School and Assistant Head
- Co-ordinating meetings with staff/Senior Team and management of Calendar commitments
- Producing parental letters and arranging meetings with parents
- Assisting with arrangements for Lower School events including catering requests/room bookings
- Assisting with production of ad-hoc reports/projects
- Preparing weekly record updates from Tutors
- Providing transition files for Year 7 and Year 8 Tutors
- Assisting with Parent Consultation Evenings for Year 7 and Year 8
- Assisting with reporting and curricular admin for Year 7 and Year 8
- Setting up a calendar overview of the term and flagging up forthcoming Lower School events
Head of Year 7 and Head of Year 8
- Assisting the Head of Year 7 and Year 8 with planning and logistics for the annual Year 7 & Year 8 trip for pupils.
- Chasing consent forms/paperwork from parents, compiling lists of pupils for activities and accommodation.
- Preparing trip packs for staff attending.
- Assisting the Head of Year 7 and Year 8 with parent mailings or ad-hoc events/projects
Heads of Department and Senior School Departments – Lower School
- Assisting with the administration of trip letters and consent forms, chasing consent forms with parents, preparing labels/letters for mailings.
- Sending out general departmental mailings
- Collating and re-directing Consent Forms/payments
Registration – Lower School
- Receiving calls from parents re sickness/absence and recording on SIMs
- Chasing un-registered pupils and when necessary following the School’s Missing Child Procedure
- Issuing un-registered pupil reports
- Contacting parents regarding un-registered pupils
- Chasing teaching staff regarding missing registration/N codes
- Producing SIMs reports and other pupil attendance reports (Lates, individual pupil attendance reports when required)
- Administration of Games registration on Tuesdays (Year 7 and Year 8)
- Chasing Games registration with Games staff, Tutors and adjusting codes as necessary
Rewards and Sanctions – Lower School
- Weekly admin of pupil sanctions (Omegas/Detentions) running sanction reports on Tues, Wed, & Thurs for the different sessions in the week, sending letters to parents, information to Tutors, notices for Central Hall
- Arranging schedule for supervision of Sanctions
- Reviewing and correcting inputted data
- Providing training to staff on entering sanctions
Thursday Lunchtime Activities
- Assisting with the administration/ documentation of Thursday Lunchtime Activities for the Lower School
School Office
- Taking telephone calls and messages, dealing with general enquiries, re-directing and prioritising as necessary
- Updating pupil/parent records on SIMs
- Maintaining stationery supplies and orders
- Assisting with general office mailings
- Referring sick pupils to the School Nurse when necessary
- Assisting with pupil filing for Lower School
First Aid
- Undertaking relevant training to become a School First Aider
- Point of call for pupils to go to when feeling unwell – re-directing pupils to see the Nurse when necessary
- Phoning parents and asking them to collect pupils when unwell
- Liaising with the Nurse re any pupil medical emergencies
General
- Assisting with general administrative tasks as requested
- Providing cover for the other School Administrators during sickness, holidays and other absence
- Providing cover for the Receptionist when required (break, lunchtimes etc)
- Carrying out any such other duties within the post holder’s capabilities as may be reasonably requested from time to time.
These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide. They are not exhaustive: the Lower School Administrator will be expected to undertake any reasonable task or responsibility as required by the PA to the Principal Deputy Head.
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to A level or equivalent.
- Experience of administrative duties.
Desirable
- Experience of working in the education sector.
- Skills / Knowledge
Essential
• A high level of computer literacy, working with Microsoft Office 2010 and being proficient and accurate in word processing, mail merge and spreadsheet programs, particularly Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with pupils, parents, staff and the wider School community. This requires an open, friendly approach together with a good telephone manner.
• The ability to remain calm and composed under pressure.
• Problem solving skills and the ability to apply diplomacy and tact when appropriate.
• The ability to prioritise tasks and to be able to show initiative in dealing with day-to-day situations.
• The ability to maintain in strictest confidence any information received concerning School matters.Desirable
• Knowledge of child protection and safeguarding policies.
• SIMS- Personal Attributes
Essential
• Patience, flexibility and a sense of humour.
• A willingness to undertake training in order to acquire a mastery of the SIMS database and associated software.
• Ability to work well as a member of a team.
• Ability to understand and adapt to the culture of an independent day school.
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered – 21% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 11% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.
Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Holidays | Generous holiday allowance of 33 days (including bank holidays) for full-time staff. Most holidays will be taken during school holiday periods.
Lunch | A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 5th January 2024
- Timing of interviews: w/c 8 January 2024
Contact: The Recruitment Team is happy to answer any questions about this post.
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Inclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policies
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.