Administrative Assistant and Receptionist

Ark; Greater London; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Additional training days

Generous pension

Ark rewards

Interest-free loans

Gym discounts

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

Ark is a London-based school seeking a Front of House and administration colleague to make a professional first impression and support visitors, parents, scholars and staff. You will be calm under pressure and uphold high standards across administrative tasks and pastoral support.

The role involves answering calls, handling inquiries, safeguarding, reprographics, bookings and general admin, with a strong emphasis on teamwork and alignment with Ark's values and ethos.

Responsibilities

• Providing outstanding front-line customer service to scholars, parents, staff and visitors to the school as well as a high standard of administration duties.
• Assist the school’s receptionists with answering calls, dealing with visitors and presenting a positive image of the school that upholds the school’s values and ethos.
• Interacting with parents, carers, colleagues and visitors to the school, at all levels of seniority, with confidence, tact and professionalism.
• Ensure safeguarding procedures are followed for all visitors and appropriately handling incoming calls and enquiries.
• Ensure that all communications are correctly logged and routed to their intended recipients, or an appropriate member of staff, to ensure a quick and effective communication system.
• To provide general administrative support.
• To undertake reprographics work.
• To book cabs when required.
• To ensure that the reception area remains tidy and that literature and forms are updated and replenished as necessary.
• Willingness to be first aid trained in order to provide first aid to scholars and staff where necessary
• Responding to Oncalls
• Undertaking routine school duties, such as lunch duty.
• Assist with student welfare and liaise with parents where necessary
• Provide cover for other areas of the admin department and carry out all administrative duties when required and directed to do so by the Operations Manager.

Job description

About The Role

The Role

This is a Front of House and administration role, well suited to someone with a passion for customer service. You will provide a professional/positive first impression and support to all visitors, parents, scholars and staff. You will also provide important administrative and pastoral support. You will need to be unflappable, calm under pressure and enthusiastic in holding yourself and others to our high standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing outstanding front-line customer service to scholars, parents, staff and visitors to the school as well as a high standard of administration duties.
• Assist the school’s receptionists with answering calls, dealing with visitors and presenting a positive image of the school that upholds the school’s values and ethos.
• Interacting with parents, carers, colleagues and visitors to the school, at all levels of seniority, with confidence, tact and professionalism.
• Ensure safeguarding procedures are followed for all visitors and appropriately handling incoming calls and enquiries.
• Ensure that all communications are correctly logged and routed to their intended recipients, or an appropriate member of staff, to ensure a quick and effective communication system.
• To provide general administrative support.
• To undertake reprographics work.
• To book cabs when required.
• To ensure that the reception area remains tidy and that literature and forms are updated and replenished as necessary.
• Willingness to be first aid trained in order to provide first aid to scholars and staff where necessary
• Responding to Oncalls
• Undertaking routine school duties, such as lunch duty.
• Assist with student welfare and liaise with parents where necessary
• Provide cover for other areas of the admin department and carry out all administrative duties when required and directed to do so by the Operations Manager.

We’re proud to share that our school has been recognised as a top-performing secondary school nationally, receiving Top 10% badges for Pupil Effort and Employee Line Management, alongside a Top 5% badge for Employee Agency, in the Spring 2026 census with The Engagement Platform (TEP).

Benefits

• Salaries 2.5% higher than main pay scale.
• Twice as many training days as standard.
• Generous pension scheme.
• Access to Ark rewards – a scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers
• Interest-free loans – up to £5,000 available for season ticket or to buy a bicycle.
• Gym discounts – offering up to 40%.
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme – providing free, confidential counselling, legal advice and a range of different support.

About Us

• We are part of the Ark family of schools and benefit accordingly from outstanding networking and career opportunities and first-class CPD.
• Staff wellbeing is one of our main priorities. We provide breakfast for staff each morning, lunch for early careers staff and have a 6pm/weekend work‑related communication cut off. We do not do knee jerk reactions, fads or last‑minute deadlines. Our systems and processes for communication, marking and feedback and assessment are streamlined and the approaches we take are research led and based on our local context. We offer a WFH day to HoDs for curriculum design and also offer external marking of scripts to support workload. Our full approach to staff wellbeing/workload can be found here.
• This is a small school model (600 scholars aged 11‑16) because we believe that our close‑knit family community provides the optimum conditions for success.
• Scholar behaviour is exceptional with clearly defined and embedded routines. This means our teachers can focus their time on the things that matter – planning and delivering brilliant lessons for our scholars.
• This is a strict no excuses, no mobile phone school. Phones are not permitted onsite at all. Scholars wear business dress to prepare them for a professional career.
• Our curriculum is traditional and academic, and we do not take shortcuts to seek to boost our position in school league tables – we do not, for example, offer equivalencies such as Btecs or Vcerts.
• We put high‑quality teaching at the heart of what we do. We are committed to providing staff with weekly high‑quality training. We run coaching for staff who want to see rapid progress in their discipline. Live coaching and current best practice in the field of education is central to our approach.
• We don’t grade individual lessons or ask for lesson plans but we do place a primacy on curriculum design, independent learning and formative assessment.
• Our scholars enjoy a compulsory co‑curricular program on a Wednesday afternoon which includes a strong focus on community volunteering and we facilitate 6 drop‑down days per academic year ensuring scholars benefit from a range of life‑enriching experiences.

Alignment with the school’s vision, values and approach to education is essential.

Diversity and inclusion:

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.

Safeguarding statement:

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non‑disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend on the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred.