Location: Broadstone
Salary: to £35k pro rata
Hours: Either 8am - 4.30pm or 8.30am - 5pm Monday - Friday,40 weeks per annum (school holidays off), office based
Benefits: Beautiful grounds and location, free parking, free cooked lunch daily, pension, free tea/coffee
Aspire Jobs are delighted to be working exclusively with our client Castle Court School who are now looking for an exceptional PA/EA to the Head Teacher to start work at the end of August 24.
Castle Court is a co-educational, prep school for children aged 2 to 13 based in over 50 acres of beautiful Dorset countryside. They pride themselves on their academic success. Their pupils are award winners who go onto a number of destinations.
Castle Court is a very special place; they are a close-knit community where everybody is known and valued as an individual. When people first walk into Castle Court, they are struck by the genuine warmth of everyone they meet, but also by their passion and energy. Their 7Cs values of being compassionate, curious, creative, courteous, courageous, committed and collaborative are lived out week in and week out by both their staff and pupils.
The role of PA/EA to the Head Teacher is a key role and as such needs someone with previous PA or EA experience at the highest level. The role directly works for the Head but also has a lot of interaction with the Senior leadership team, the staffing team and with parents as well as external suppliers.
The PA/EA role will see you being an extension of the Head, proactively managing their diary, drafting and producing accurate correspondence and documentation in a timely manner. This role will not suit someone who has a 9-5 mentality. Some flexibility is required and in return you will be offered a degree of flexibility back. The willingness to undertake any duty asked of you is key - this can include event planning etc. You must be willing to go the extra mile for the school.
This is a really important and busy role. You will be charismatic with the ability to charm parents and colleagues in the right way. It is very detail orientated so the ability to think ahead and protect the Head's time in her diary is vitally important. No two days are the same and that shouldn't phase you.
To be the PA/EA at the school you will be a real people person who can bring the team together and be confident at saying no to appointments for the Head in the right way but recognising when an issue is important and booking time in her diary accordingly.
The successful PA/EA will:-
- Have 5 years min previous PA or EA experience
- Be of the highest integrity with high levels of honesty
- Be able to work in a strictly private and confidential manner
- Be the Heads right hand person
- Have excellent IT skills inc MS Office, Word, Excel and Powerpoint as well as the ability to mail merge
- Have superb written and verbal communication skills with English as a first language
- Be tactful, discreet and diplomatic
- Be able to demonstrate the ability to build strong relationships and be a real "people person" even when providing a "gate keeping" service to the Head
- Be able to multi task and juggle multiple tasks at any one time
- Working to tight deadlines
Main responsibilities:
- Organising the day to day, time management of the Head, assisting them in prioritising their workload and keeping them on schedule: anticipating and scheduling regular events, meetings and appointments in their diary, correspondence/emails and travel arrangements, when required
- To provide a warm and hospitable welcome for all those who come into contact with the school, whilst simultaneously acting as 'gatekeeper' to the Head which includes protecting the interests of the Head at all times, fielding telephone enquiries and appointment requests. There may be the need to take prospective parents on school tours on occasion
- To provide administrative and confidential support to the Head which includes producing correspondence and ensuring they are briefed for meetings with the relevant documents and presentations, etc.; managing post and correspondence as required; producing documentation using different media e.g. reports, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, all to a high standard
- Senior Schools: in close conjunction with the Head, coordinate arrangements for pupils' successful transfer to Senior Schools, typing reports, updating lists of all pupils who have Senior School pre-tests, dates of Scholarships and deadlines for Head's reference; preparation of academic results for the Head in conjunction with the Senior members of the academic team, maintain internal records as necessary
- Be responsible for producing pupil reports at the end of each year, plus references to senior schools as requested throughout the year
- Be responsible for managing census returns each year to external bodies including the Department of Education and the ISC
- Arrange and contact guest speakers for assemblies/events and services
- Maintain a high standard of personal appearance and presentation appropriate with the nature of this role, together with attending such school functions and meetings as required by the Head
- Take minutes of leadership and governors' meetings as requested.
Interviews will take place w/c 1/7/24
PLEASE NOTE ANY CV'S SENT DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOL WILL BE FORWARDED TO ASPIRE JOBS.