Careers

Reporting to:  Head of Education

Salary: £30,000 – £35,000

Main purpose

Reporting directly to the Head, the Administration and Business manager is responsible for ensuring all administration and non-teaching aspects of the school run efficiently and effectively. The Administration and Business manager is a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SMT) and is expected to contribute significantly to the continuous improvement of the school’s services.

The Administration and Business Manager will effectively manage the pupil’s administrative and practical journey from admission to the school to the effective transition from the school.

As a member of the Leadership Team, the Administration and Business Manager is directly accountable to the Headteacher for the operation of the business functions of our school including health and safety, examination processes, staffing, compliance and administration.

They will advise on and implement the day-to-day support that enables the school to operate effectively and efficiently, and that allows members of the teaching staff, leadership team and governors to focus on teaching and learning.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Administration Management

• Providing administration support to the headteacher.
• Managing the Administration Officer, to ensure support to the education team.
• Co-ordinating the SEN documentation processes thereby creating and presenting reports including PEP, CLA reviews, Senior management reports
• Secretary of the Governing Body.
• Managing the filing, communication systems both online and manual.
• Preparing admission documentation and working with SENCO to produce reports.
• Disseminating information, answering enquiries and dealing with complaints regarding external examinations with staff, students and parents/carers.

Examinations

• Liaising with all staff, eg heads of department regarding exam entries.
• Submitting entries for external examinations to awarding bodies in advance of deadlines.
• Organising SEN provision for exams., including liaising with the SEN coordinator regarding candidates with SEN; applying to awarding bodies for special arrangements for such candidates.
• Managing the daily running of external examinations. This will include ensuring that all required materials are in the examination rooms for the start of the examinations and arrangements for candidates with special educational needs are in place.
• Providing support to the Senior Leadership Team, pupils and their staff.
• Organising exam materials, providing safe custody of and organising examination stationery and materials, including question papers, in accordance with regulations.
• Organising the examination rooms, in accordance with regulations.
• Providing a centre timetable to include dates, times, venues and number of candidates.
• Resolving examination clashes in accordance with regulations.
• Briefing candidates on examination regulations and producing written guidelines for staff and students; ensuring candidates are aware of their own examination timetables.
• Collecting and despatching worked scripts in accordance with the regulations.
• Arranging invigilation, including briefing and training invigilators in school procedures.
• Being present and available in school on the days when results are notified and overseeing the distribution of results to candidates.
• Producing analyses of examination results as soon as practicable.
• Providing statistics on examination entries and results for the Headteacher, senior management team etc.
• Checking DfE and other examination statistics before publication.
• Overseeing the checking and distribution of certificates.
• Processing enquiries about results and requests for return of scripts.
• Making arrangements for internal examinations, including the production of the timetable, rooming and invigilation.
• Be responsible for the management and supervision of invigilators

Culture, Knowledge & Logistics

• Encouraging a positive examination culture in the school to which all staff and students subscribe.
• Keeping up to date with the requirements of the role. Ensuring attendance at appropriate awarding body and other INSET training meetings, etc and keeping up to date with the latest procedures and regulations for external examinations.
• Assisting with the production of student and teacher timetables.
• Organising cover when teachers are on courses.
• Collecting education information from authorities when new young people arrive.
• Collecting information for meetings, attending meetings and taking minutes/notes. Recording meetings according to procedures.
• Communicating to teachers any relevant information about young people, meetings, training.
• Managing innovation and change.
• Working collaboratively.
• Manage and develop effective working relationships with Headteacher and senior managers in the school.
• Sustain effective, positive relationships with all staff, pupils, parents, the local community Local Authorities, neighbouring schools, and other agencies.
• Any other reasonable duties
• Other administrative tasks.

 Leadership and strategy

• Be accountable to the Headteacher for all budget matters in school, to ensure the school’s successful financial performance and to ensure financial decisions are clearly linked to the school’s strategic goals.
• Be accountable to the Headteacher for all staffing matters including recruitment, appointment checks, probation etc
• Oversee and co-ordinate processes and paperwork with Meadows School related to statutory meetings/processes such as PEP meeting, EHCP’s, CLA reviews, internal Meadow’s care meetings.
• Monitor developments in technology and consider how it can be used to enhance the school’s business processes, teaching and learning, and staff wellbeing.
• Support the education team by developing online technological processes, including managing the school VLP software and monitoring school technology hardware.
• Develop and Implement a Marketing Strategy for the school, which utilises the school website, signage, the prospectus, and communications with current and prospective parents to ensure the school’s reputation within the community is strong and systems and processes are professional and cohesive
• Implement school-wide changes and allocate resources in line with the school improvement plan, putting policies and procedures in place and communicating them to staff
• Benchmark spending against similar schools to seek even better efficiencies.
• Take all decisions in line with the vision and values of the school, and encourage others to do the same
• Be accountable for line-managing Administration, Finance, including carrying out long-term resource planning and managing recruitment, appraisal and professional development. Ensure all members of those teams fulfil their job descriptions to the highest standards.
• As a member of the senior leadership team, attend all leadership team meetings and be a visible presence at school events.
• Systematically report to governors using reporting mechanisms that meet their needs and work collaboratively to develop the schools’ businesses further, securing long-term financial stability.

Financial management and fundraising

• In partnership with the headteacher, manage the school’s budget and ensure it is balanced, realistic.
• Oversee all admissions to the School and discharges alongside Meadows Care Placements Manager and finance team. Ensure fees are readily available and are reviewed. Ensure communication is maintained between each commissioning body and Meadows care.
• Submit the budget to the governing board and keep them fully involved and briefed in all aspects of the Administration and Business Manager role.
• Monitor the budget all year round, advising the headteacher where revisions or changes are needed.
• Forecast future years’ budgets, based on the school’s estimated funding and trends in expenditure, to enable the headteacher to make strategic, long-term decisions.
• Comply with financial reporting requirements and submit statutory returns.
• Lead on procurement processes, managing tenders where appropriate, conducting due diligence, benchmarking and evaluating suppliers, negotiating deals and ensuring value for money.

Human resources

• Support with recruitment, appraisal, disciplinary and grievance policies are administered in accordance with employment law/Meadows care policies.
• Conduct reviews of the school’s staffing structure to ensure effective deployment of staff and financial efficiency.
• Manage the probationary cycle of all staff employed at the school.
• Maintain the Single Central Register alongside HR.
• Be the lead professional for matters concerning DBS, right to work and suitability for employment via qualifications and/ or legal paperwork-in liaison with Meadows HR Director.

Site including Health and Safety

• Manage the school’s compliance with statutory obligations and advise others on the Track all school policies and ensure they are updated in accordance with the policy review schedule.
• Monitor and update the risk register.
• Monitor and update the Crises Management Plan
• Be lead professional for GDPR.
• Keep records in accordance with the school’s record retention schedule and data protection law, ensuring information security and confidentiality at all times.

Administration and Other

• Provide administrative support for the headteacher and governing body especially in confidential matters.
• Oversee and co-ordinate processes and paperwork with Meadows School related to statutory meetings/processes such as PEP meeting, EHCP’s, CLA reviews, internal Meadow’s care meetings. (Stated above)
• Be the school’s data protection officer, taking responsibility for monitoring data protection compliance and advising the school community on data protection issues.
• The school business manager will be required to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and follow school policies and the staff code of conduct.

Please note that this list of duties is illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of the role. It is not a comprehensive list of all tasks that the school business manager will carry out.

The postholder may be required to do other duties appropriate to the level of the role, as directed by the headteacher.

Person specification

CRITERIA QUALITIES

Qualifications and training

• Desirable: A school business management qualification eg the level 4 diploma
• Desirable: A degree – ideally in accountancy, business management or a related discipline)
• Essential: English and Maths qualifications to at least Grade C or above at GCSE or equivalent.
• Desirable: Recent training on GDPR
• Desirable: Training on Data Protection Officer role
• Desirable: First Aid Qualification
• Desirable: current engagement in Administration and Business Manager networks or similar and access to associated training/updates
• Essential: Recent Safeguarding training/Experience/knowledge
• Essential: Successful leadership and management experience in a school, or in a relevant field outside education
• Essential: Involvement in school self-evaluation and improvement planning
• Essential: Line management experience
• Desirable: Experience of change management
• Desirable: Managing all aspects of HR including contracts of employment,

Employment legislation etc

• Desirable: experience of managing other budgets within a school eg Nursery, childcare vouchers etc

Skills and knowledge

• Essential: Knowledge of financial management
• Essential: high levels of Microsoft office knowledge including Excel
• Desirable: Previous use of financial/administrative systems e.g. SIMs
• Essential: Effective communication and interpersonal skills
• Essential: Ability to communicate a vision and inspire others
• Essential: Ability to build effective working relationships with staff and other stakeholders

Personal qualities

• Essential: Commitment to promoting the ethos and values of the school and getting the best outcomes for all pupils
• Essential: Commitment to acting with integrity, honesty, loyalty and fairness to safeguard the assets, financial probity and reputation of the school
• Essential: Ability to work under pressure and prioritise effectively
• Essential: Commitment to maintaining confidentiality at all times

Essential: Commitment to safeguarding and equality

Apply:

As part of our Safer Recruitment process, you must complete an application form, a CV alone is not sufficient. Please fill out this application form.

North West

£30,000 - £35,000