ADMISSIONS OFFICER (FULL TIME)

Transcription

1 ADMISSIONS OFFICER (FULL TIME) Reports to: The Head of Admissions Other key relationships: The Head; Heads of Junior School and Senior School; Sixth Form Liaison Prefects, Finance, Database Manager, Marketing The Abbey School is an independent GSA day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years. Founded in 1887 the school enjoys an enviable reputation of academic excellence, a rich history, a caring pastoral environment and a wide breadth of extra-curricular activity for each individual. With exceptionally high ratings in the national league tables and a thriving International Baccalaureate diploma programme, The Abbey School is the only independent school in the Berkshire area to offer such outstanding opportunities to academically able girls. The girls themselves are motivated, enthusiastic and co-operative and there is a happy, purposeful atmosphere to the school. The staff at The Abbey School form a strong and professional community of highly skilled, dedicated and enthusiastic people. The governors and management team are committed to supporting the continuing development of its staff and maintain a good working environment with the necessary policies and procedures in place to support this. We recruit only the highest calibre staff, who are enthusiastic and committed. In return we aim to provide opportunities for employees to reach their own full potential for their benefit and the benefit of the school as a whole. The Admissions Officer will support the implementation of the admissions strategy in cooperation with the Heads, The Head of External Relations and under the direction of the Head of Admissions. The Admissions Officer will work closely with the other Admissions team members. Job Purpose: To support the Head of Admissions and other Admissions Officers with all pupil recruitment and provide a first class, tailored end-to-end recruitment process for all prospective parents To support the implementing of the admissions strategy under the guidance of the Head of Admissions To ensure that the process from enquiry to offer and offer to acceptance/placement is recorded electronically and is professionally maintained for both the Junior and Senior Schools Duties and Responsibilities: To support the primary point of contact (Head of Admissions) for prospective parents and girls To assist in the handling of all enquiries in a timely manner, recording each in as much detail as possible on the admissions database To support the Head of Admissions in following-up on all initial enquiries, particularly when prospective parents have not visited the School or made any subsequent contact

2 To assist in the organising of all personal visit arrangements including tailored tours of the School and confirming details with parents in writing To meet regularly with Liaison prefects to ensure they select girls as tour guides who will be ambassadors for the School and be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the interests of the prospective pupils they guide To help create and maintain a positive and professional ethos throughout the admissions process To play a supporting role in the preparation of, and attendance at, Open Days/Evenings, Taster events and other recruitment and admissions events for the pupils and parents To assist in the following-up on all open days/visits from prospective families To encourage registrations, wherever possible To assist the team to acknowledge all registrations, following up with invitations to entry examinations / scholarships as appropriate To assist the team in the preparation and administration before, during and after examination day (early January annually), plus all supplementary examinations throughout the year, including timely liaison with academic Heads of Department and the pastoral team before and after examinations To assist in the preparation and administration before, during and after scholarship assessment days (Academic and Specialist Drama/Art/Sport/Music) To assist in the collation of all information from feeder schools and parents in order to assist the Head in her decisions concerning offers/rejections of places and scholarships To support the team with all communication relating to girls re: feeder schools (references and informing the feeder schools of their girls success in obtaining a place, scholarship or otherwise) To liaise with the Finance Department concerning new and departing pupils and scholarship awards To ensure that recipient schools are informed of all Girls leaving the Abbey during their ongoing schooling and that relevant information is passed across to these schools To assist in the forwarding of all information required for the Register of the School, including maintaining and providing statistical information as required Actively deal with queries from parents/agents/teachers/feeder schools in coordination with the Head of Admissions To work closely with the other Admissions Officers to ensure that families enquiring about places in both the Junior School and Senior School are offered a seamless and professional experience To assist with welcoming new girls and families to the School (paperwork and personal welcome) To help with the monitoring of admissions activities of competitors and work with the Marketing team on the delivery/content of the optimal Admissions process at the Abbey (from website search to visit to printed materials) To help maintain the admissions database, ensuring that it is always 100% up-to-date with the latest status of each prospective family and work closely with the other Admissions team members on this process

3 To run reports on the key admissions statistics as requested by the Head Admissions to enable the School to monitor admissions performance and the profile of prospective parents to inform strategic decisions Person Specification Knowledge Solid understanding of process management General understanding of educational practices, desirable but not essential Excellent understanding of first rate customer care practices Skills Good organisational and administrative skills, ensuring an ability to organise specific Admissions processes and events (eg. Entry Examinations/Open Days, etc.) Ability to work effectively under pressure Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to interact well with people at all levels and build relationships Excellent telephone manner and written communication skills Very good IT skills Understanding and experience of, and ability to use, the functions of a database (isams), including report building and the importance of consistent and accurate data-entry Good evaluation and analysis skills Good written skills Ability to issue information electronically and by Clarion Call/iSAMS messaging Experience/qualifications Receptive to the aims and ethos of independent education, in general and The Abbey, in particular Experience of organising and leading on multiple tasks/projects within tight timescales Experience within an educational environment is highly desirable but not essential Experience of independent school admissions is desirable but not essential Experience of managing staff is preferable Personal circumstances Willingness to attend open days and other admissions related events (Examination days, scholarship days etc...), including occasional evenings and weekends, which require flexibility as part of the salaried job Attributes/personal characteristics Personal warmth a genuine desire to help others and offer an outstanding service Pro-active with a positive and enthusiastic attitude

4 A good team player Ability to respond to, and manage, multiple tasks Reliable, well organised with good attention to detail and deadlines Willingness to keep abreast of and adopt Admissions best practice in independent schools Such other duties and responsibilities as required by the Head of External Relations Hours of Work You will routinely work Monday to Friday, 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week 8am to 5pm. You will be entitled to a total of one-hour unpaid refreshment breaks per day A flexible attitude to working hours is necessary as there will be some evening and weekend events when attendance will be necessary to fulfil this important role, e.g. attendance at Open Evenings/Morning, preparation for and attending Entry Examination and Scholarship Assessment Days. This list is illustrative but not exhaustive and does include evenings and weekends There is a possibility that this role can be term time only. This can be discussed further at Interview. There is a probationary period of six months, during which time one week s notice is required by either party to terminate the contract. After this initial six-month period, the notice period will be one month. Holiday Entitlement Employees working for the full year are entitled to 20 days paid holiday per year, plus 4 concessionary days awarded by the Head of Finance and Resources to be taken at the school s discretion (usually at Christmas). In addition, you will be entitled to the 8 public bank holidays each year Holidays to be agreed beforehand with the Head of External Relations All holidays are to be taken during the School holiday periods Salary and Benefits The gross annual salary will be based on experience. Staff are paid monthly and in arrears. The School offers a non-contributory pension scheme worth 8.35% of salary, which is available to all employees once their pro story period has been successfully completed Staff fee concession is available to employees daughters who satisfy the entrance requirements and for whom there is a place available Lunches are provided Parking is normally available but not guaranteed Health and Safety It is a duty of employees: To be familiar with, and conform to, the School s Health and Safety Policy and procedures

5 To take reasonable care of themselves and other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work To co-operate with employers in order to ensure that employers duties can be performed and complied with To report all accidents and damage immediately To report all observed hazards or dangerous occurrences immediately To neither intentionally, nor recklessly, interfere with any equipment provided. Security All employees are required to remain vigilant on the school premises and to report any security issues to the Head of Finance and Resources immediately. Child Protection The Abbey School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post may involve unsupervised contact with children and young people. The School therefore expects from the successful candidate the level and degree of adult leadership of children and young people expected in a School environment. The successful candidate should expect to undertake the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance process. Equal Opportunities The Abbey School aims to promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of qualifications and abilities, talent, personal qualities, skills and potential. The Abbey School welcomes applications from candidates of diverse backgrounds and personal circumstances. A detailed Equal Opportunities policy is available on request. Terms of Employment Under current legislation, we are required to advise applicants that this appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced disclosure. Details of any criminal record (spent or unspent, due to exemption from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) must be disclosed at interview. Only relevant convictions and other information will be taken into account so disclosure need not necessarily be a bar to obtaining a position at this School. For further information, contact the Disclosure and Barring Service on or visit the Disclosure website at For more information on our lively and well-resourced school and for an application form, please visit the Vacancies Page on our website. To apply for this position, please complete an application form in full, including details of suitable referees as instructed, then send this with your full CV and covering letter by to recruitment@theabbey.co.uk

6 Interviews will only be arranged following our receipt of a completed application form. Closing Date: 29 June 2018 Interviews to be held: As soon as you have been shortlisted If your skills and experience are suitable for the role we will be in touch shortly. If you have not heard from us by the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful. For enquires please contact recruitment@theabbey.co.uk