Admission Officer

Teaching Vacancies; Rochester; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Counselling services for staff

Committed CPD programme

Support for work-life balance

Job summary

Teaching Vacancies is seeking an Admissions Administrator to lead the school admissions process and provide efficient service to prospective parents and students. The role involves coordinating external applications, liaising with the Headteacher and SLT, and ensuring governors’ documentation is complete.

The post requires strong ICT skills, SIMS knowledge, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines while maintaining high accuracy.

Qualifications

• Good level of education 5+ A*- C grades GCSE.
• Excellent ICT skills: Word, Excel, E-mail, Internet.
• Excellent knowledge of SIMS.
• Organised and methodical working.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to meet strict deadlines.
• Ability to use an admission platform or learn to use it.
• Operate as the lead contact for parents seeking admission.

Responsibilities

• Lead the admissions process for the school and Year 7/12 intake.
• Process external applications and liaise with Headteacher, SLT and Year Leaders.
• Prepare paperwork for Governors’ Admissions Committee.
• Communicate with parents regarding the admission process and appeals.
• Gather student information from previous schools for new admissions.
• Support transition information packs and open evenings.
• Liaise with feeder institutions regarding transition and prospectus distribution.
• Produce typed documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel databases.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

ICT skills

SIMS knowledge

Organised and methodical work

Attention to detail

Deadline-driven

Admission platform experience

Communication

Education

5+ A*-C GCSEs

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Email

Internet

SIMS

Job description

What skills and experience we're looking for

Responsible To: Office Manager

Purpose of Job: To lead and be responsible for undertaking the admissions process – providing an effective and efficient service to the school and prospective parents/carers and students.

Person Specification

• To be able to work independently as well as being a good team member
• To be able communicate effectively using good interpersonal skills with various stakeholders including SLT, Governing Body, teachers, students, parents.
• Good level of education 5+ A*- C grades GCSE
• Excellent ICT skills: Word, Excel, E-mail, Internet
• Excellent knowledge of SIMS
• Organised and methodical working
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to meet strict deadlines
• Ability to use an admission platform or learn to use it
• Operate as the lead contact for parents seeking admission to the school, explaining and assisting with admissions processes and procedures
• Process external applications to all year groups, liaising with the Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and Year Leaders
• Ensure all relevant paperwork is in place for the Governors’ Admissions Committee
• Liaise with parents regarding the appeal process when required and compile necessary documentation for appeals (attending appeal hearings when required)
• Ensure that relevant student information is gathered from previous schools for new admissions and information for those leaving St John Fisher School for other institutions in passed on
• Take an active role in the preparation of the transition process, including providing parents with the necessary information packs, attending the School Open Evening and the New Intake Information Evening, being available to assist parents with any queries
• Communicate with all feeder institutions regarding transition including distribution arrangements of documents, prospectus and the like
• Ensure that a free school meal entitlement check is undertaken for all admissions in order to ensure that free school meal uptake remains as high as possible
• Maintain waiting lists in collaboration with the local authority and pursue applicants when places become available
• Liaise with the SEN team over applicants who have an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) or special educational needs or English as an Additional Language
• Produce regular on/off-roll information, including statistics and ensure this is communicated to all the necessary staff and the local authority
• Liaise with relevant staff to ensure that on-roll dates are clear, that timetables are available for admissions and that students leaving are removed
• Arrange in-year admissions appointments with relevant staff and ensure all necessary paperwork is available
• Lead the administrative support provided for all publicity, visits to primary schools, open evenings and open days for entry to year 7 and liaise with the Sixth Form team over publicity events for entry to year 12
• Produce a variety of typed/word-processed documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel databases.
• Be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and follow the safeguarding policy Staff Development:

Staff Development:

• To assess development and training needs and discuss with line manager.
• To set your own targets before any development activity and review and evaluate the activity after completion, cascading information to the appropriate team when relevant.
• To keep personal records of all staff development activities in which you are/have been involved.

What the school offers its staff

St. John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School has a proud history of educating our local Medway community. Established in 1964, we are the only Catholic secondary school in the local authority. One of seven secondary modern schools in the area, we are a diverse community, proud to educate Catholic students as well as those of other faiths and none. We are also proudly comprehensive: for example, SJF’s sixth form offers a wide range of academic and vocational qualifications. It has a comprehensive intake, ranging from students who are re-taking Level 2 qualifications all the way to those who are enrolled in our Oxbridge programme which helps students to reach the top universities.

Our students often refer to us as their second family, and it is a great place to work as a teacher. Our community of staff is incredibly supportive of each other, and our personalised CPD programme means that everyone’s career development is supported in a way that is specific to them. We are passionate about work-life balance, finishing lessons early on a Wednesday afternoon so that CPD and meetings can largely take place during normal school hours, and we provide counselling services free of charge to those who need them. In addition, our feedback policy asks that staff read student books and then get the class to respond collectively in the next lesson in purple pen, rather than requiring that every set of books be deep marked on a frequent basis.

The school has been on a trajectory of improvement since the appointment of the Headteacher, Dympna Lennon, in September 2016. This was recognised in our ‘Good’ Ofsted in May 2019, with inspectors commenting that ‘standards across the school have improved since the last inspection’ and ‘Teaching, learning and assessment are strong across subjects.’ We were proud to be recognised as an ‘Outstanding’ Catholic school in our 2021 Diocesan Inspection. While the pandemic had a devastating impact on many of the families, which did have an impact on our academic results, we have taken robust action to address this and improve our offer for our Medway community.

Having been the recipient of a multimillion-pound grant from the Department for Education, we moved into world‑class, purpose‑built facilities in Spring 2023. Situated at the top of City Way looking down across Rochester and the River Medway, the school is equipped with enviable sporting and academic facilities, including a large English department on the same floor as our beautiful library, which is positioned right at the heart of the school.

SJF undoubtedly has a proud history, but we are even more excited about the future. We hope that you’ll want to be part of it.

Further details about the role

Closing Date: 18.11.26

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.