school administrator

About the School Located in Andover, Hampshire, our school has the capacity for up to 60 pupils and offers safe and supportive environments for pupils from 5 to 18 years old with a range of complex needs. We believe in fostering a positive and supportive environment where every child feels valued, respected, and empowered. Our commitment to a holistic approach ensures that academic progress is complemented by emotional wellbeing and personal growth. Our school will form part of the Polaris Community who have been passionately improving the lives of young people for over 30 years, alongside our current growing portfolio of schools across the UK. We’re incredibly proud that 100% of our education services have been rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

Role Responsibilities

• Promote the safeguarding and welfare of all pupils and visitors.
• Promote and act on initiatives to improve quality of life and wellbeing for pupils and staff.
• Polaris Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment.

Reception

The school administrator will provide a warm welcome for parents, visitors and colleagues and deal with their requests in an efficient and professional manner.

Key Tasks and Activities

• Answer the telephone in a friendly, professional and efficient manner and record and pass on messages as appropriate.
• Ensure visitors sign in, sign the safeguarding disclaimer and are provided with a visitor’s badge.
• Accurately maintain the shared calendar and update the school information.
• Provide refreshments for visitors.
• Work on parents' evening and other evening events as required.
• Have an effective and efficient resource process, keeping the resource ordering up to date and chasing where appropriate.
• Inform the relevant staff member when deliveries arrive.
• Distribute internal and external post and correspondence as appropriate.
• Arrange the ID cards for all new starters and governors for the school.
• Liaise when necessary with transport services and taxi suppliers for pupil transport.
• Support education staff with providing work experience opportunities for pupils.

Administration

Provide full administrative support to the Head Teacher, School Management Team and all other education staff at the school.

Key Tasks and Activities

• Produce letters and memorandums.
• Undertake filing and photocopying; to assist users with the operation of the photocopier including changing inks and attempting to resolve issues.
• Be responsible for the maintenance and monitoring of the photocopier.
• Provide administration assistance as required by the Leadership Team including ordering resources.
• Ensure all information is treated confidentially and have absolute discretion at all times.
• Accurately minute meetings as directed by the SLT (and where relevant, telephone conversations) with parents/carers.
• Schedule and attend school-based meetings with parents/carers as necessary.
• Use IT hardware and relevant software packages efficiently and effectively to access, manage, retrieve and share the various types of information as and when required.
• Use all items of office equipment, such as the photocopier, competently and keep up to date with developments and changes to such equipment.
• Maintain filing systems, both paper and electronic, efficiently and in accordance with current systems and processes.
• Ensure that documents are prepared, and data is entered onto SIMS.
• Undertake stocktaking and ordering of materials and equipment as required.
• Deal with school correspondence / emails and phone calls.
• Support the Headteacher with Local Authority correspondence and quality assurance paperwork/visits.
• Oversee and manage the school diary including room bookings and meeting schedules.

Attendance

Key Tasks and Activities

• Monitor and track whole school attendance and punctuality and to send out letters where appropriate.
• Assist with the production of termly reports for the Head Teacher and Governing Body.
• Develop and maintain links with parents/children and the local authority’s Educational Welfare Service.
• Monitor and ensure that correct attendance codes are entered in class registers and on SIMS.
• Contact parents/carers to establish the reasons for pupils’ absenteeism by telephone and letters.
• Work closely with the Deputy Head and Head Teacher to establish and agree upon authorised absences and agree actions accordingly.
• Maintain and monitor the school’s attendance records and produce returns and report as necessary.
• Monitor and maintain an accurate computer record of pupil attendance.
• Monitor the late arrival of pupils and maintain an accurate and up-to-date computer and paper-based records and files.
• Advise and assist parents/carers to maintain regular school attendance of their children.
• Communicate clearly to parents/carers the attendance procedures and expectations of the school.
• Collect and analyse attendance data to enable identification and tracking of pupil attendance.
• Input daily attendance data onto the SIMS management system.
• Run reports for termly attendance and write certificates.

Qualifications and Experience

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills - written and oral.
• Knowledge and understanding of child protection and safeguarding practices and protocols.
• Excellent organisation skills with a systematic approach to workload management.
• Excellent time management, planning and work prioritisation skills.
• Experience of developing systems and processes.
• Excellent understanding of SIMS.
• Ability to work within allocated budgets and monitor expenditure and costs.
• Full working knowledge of relevant policies/codes of practice/legislation.
• Ability to plan and develop systems.
• Ability to relate well to children and adults.
• Work constructively as part of a team, understanding school roles and responsibilities and your own position within these.
• Ability to self‑evaluate learning needs and actively seek learning opportunities.
• Confidentiality of information as appropriate.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to work on own initiative.