School & Nursery Administrator / Receptionist

Waverley Preparatory School and Nursery; California; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary based on experience

Holidays (6.2 weeks)

School lunch provided

On-site parking

Job summary

Waverley School and Nursery in Finchampstead is seeking a School & Nursery Administrator / Receptionist to join our friendly office team. You will be the first point of contact, handling queries, welcoming visitors, and ensuring smooth front-of-house operations for both the school and nursery.

The role requires practical administration experience, strong IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook), and a high level of discretion and organisation.

Qualifications

• Excellent interpersonal and people skills.
• Previous extensive administrative or reception experience, ideally in a school or nursery environment (minimum 12 months).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Reception: be the first point of contact, provide a welcoming and professional service, manage queries and visitors.
• Administration: provide nursery and school admin support, update databases, manage daily registers and deliveries.
• General: support colleagues, maintain calm and professional demeanor, uphold confidentiality.

Skills

Reception

Administration

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Communication

Telephone manner

Discretion

Attention to detail

Time management

Team player

Tools

School administration systems

Job description

Job Title

School & Nursery Administrator / Receptionist

Location

Finchampstead, Wokingham, RG40 4YD

Salary

Competitive

Job Type

Permanent, Full time

Working Hours

This is a full-time role, working 51 weeks per year from 8.30am - 5.30pm Monday - Friday.

Closing date for application

1st November 2026

Initial Interviews will take place from

4th November 2026

Key Responsibilities

Reception

• To be the first point of contact at the office, providing a warm, welcoming and professional reception service, ensuring visitors, pupils and parents receive a positive first impression of Waverley.
• To be highly presentable at all times and ensure the reception area and front office are kept clean, tidy and organised.
• To manage all in-person, telephone, and email queries for both the school and nursery, dealing with enquiries where appropriate or accurately distributing to the wider staff team.
• To actively listen and communicate confidently and clearly, providing accurate information and taking and passing on messages promptly.
• To maintain discretion and confidentiality.
• To check credentials of visitors, issue visitor passes and manage children arriving and leaving via the office.
• To respond to practical requests from pupils, parents and staff, including delivering items or messages to classrooms, offices and other areas of the school.
• To locate pupils who are being collected, and accompany or direct pupils to the appropriate areas.

Administration

• To provide administrative support to other members of staff.
• To specifically provide nursery administration, including (but not limited to) booking in ad-hoc sessions, ordering milk, submitting numbers and dietary requirements to the kitchen, submitting nursery POs and arranging orders.
• To update the school and nursery databases when required, ensuring information is accurate and up to date.
• To undertake the daily registers for the whole school, following up on any unexplained absences as required.
• To receive deliveries arriving at the school and nursery and distribute smaller deliveries and packages to the relevant departments around the school where appropriate.

General

• To contribute positively to the smooth running of the school and nursery office and support colleagues as required.
• To maintain a calm, helpful and professional manner when dealing with challenging situations.

About you

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal and people skills, with a warm, affable and approachable manner.
• Previous extensive administrative or reception experience, ideally in a school or nursery environment (minimum 12 months).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Customer focused.
• Confident and professional telephone manner.
• Confident IT skills, particularly Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Ability to remain calm, professional and organised under pressure.
• High level of discretion and understanding of the importance of confidentiality.
• Excellent attention to detail, with a high degree of accuracy and timeliness.
• Ability to prioritise tasks, manage own workload and meet deadlines.
• Flexible and willing to support colleagues and contribute positively as part of a team.
• A proactive, practical and helpful approach to resolving day-to-day queries and problems.

Desirable

• Familiarity with school and nursery administration systems and pupil databases.
• An understanding of safeguarding and the importance of maintaining a secure school environment.

Benefits

• Generous, competitive salary based on experience.
• 6.2 weeks holiday per annum inclusive of bank holidays (up to 2 weeks can be taken during term time)
• 5 days off at Christmas
• School lunch provided
• On-site parking

Additional Information

• Waverley School and Nursery is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including an online search, checks with current and previous employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
• You must have the Right to Work in the UK.

Additional qualifications

Candidates with experience or relevant job titles of; School Admin Assistant, Administrative Officer, Office Administrator, Administration Clerk, General Administration, Office Assistant, Reception Administrator, Secretary, Support Administrator may also be considered for this role