Admin Officer - Reception at The Forum Centre

Dorset Council; Wimborne Minster; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

Dorset Council’s Woodlands site in Wimborne is recruiting an school office administrator to join the new Woodlands team for its primary and KS3 pupils. This role is based on a 37-hour week during term time. The salary aligns with Dorset Council Grade 6 (£22,455–£23,548 per year).

You will be the welcoming face for parents and pupils, handle calls, support safeguarding, attendance logs and general secretarial tasks to keep our school running smoothly.

Responsibilities

• First point of contact for visitors, parents and pupils with a warm, friendly welcome.
• Answering the telephone, transferring calls and passing on messages to staff.
• Follow safeguarding: issue passes and lanyards, sign in visitors, check DBS information.
• Log daily pupil attendance onto Arbor and chase absences per policy.
• Maintain the pupil fire register.
• Update Arbor with changes to pupil and parent contact information.
• Organise school transport.
• Order school lunches.
• Receive and sign for deliveries.
• Undertake admin duties across the school, including typing letters and secretarial work.

Job description

About the role

The Forum Centre is a maintained Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) serving pupils across Dorset who have been permanently excluded, are at risk of exclusion, are medically unable to attend mainstream school or have an EHCP (primarily SEMH).

Currently, we work with up to 100 pupils across KS2-4 from a wide catchment area and teach in small, supportive class groups across two sites (main site in Blandford Forum and a satellite in Lytchett Minster).

We are excited to announce that in the New Year we are opening a third school site in Colehill, Wimborne, called Woodlands. Woodlands will be the base for our Primary and KS3 pupils. The successful candidate we be part of the new school office team and be able to welcome our parents and pupils on their first day. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the team that shapes the admin services at Woodlands. The school office team are key to the school's success and will be the welcoming face of the school.

Main duties will include

• To be the first point of contact for the school, extending a warm and friendly welcome to visitors, parents and pupils.
• Answering the telephone, transferring calls and passing on messages to relevant staff as required.
• To follow safeguarding procedures by issuing passes and lanyards to visitors, ensuring that visitors are signed into the school and checking DBS information.
• Pupil attendance recording - Logging daily attendance onto Arbor, chasing up absences in line with policy.
• Maintaining the pupil fire register.
• Updating Arbor with changes to pupil and parent contact information.
• Organising school transport.
• Ordering school lunches.
• To receive and sign for deliveries.
• Undertaking administrative duties as required to other areas of the school, including typing of letters and other secretarial duties.

Hours & Pay

• Full time, term time role for 37 hours per week and 39 weeks per year.
• Competitive hourly rate, aligned with Dorset Council's Grade 6 pay scale. Actual Salary £22,455 to £23,548 per annum (Grade 6, SCP 6-9)

Our vision is: "Striving to ensure every pupil achieves success and contributes positively to society, by providing them with imaginative, nurturing and motivating learning opportunities."

Our values of Kindness & Respect and Ambition & Determination guide everything we do.

We follow the OFSTED framework and are committed to safeguarding, inclusion, strong pastoral care and partnership, working with families and external agencies to support reintegration and long-term success.

If you would like further information about this role or would like to book visit, please contact us on 01258 455202.

Further Information

The Forum Centre values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.

The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted at the start of employment and again if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ's guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

The Forum Centre will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.