School Receptionist / Administrator

Lancing College; Lancing; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious educational institution in Lancing is seeking a School Receptionist / Administrator. This role entails welcoming visitors, managing phone inquiries, and supporting the HR team with compliance checks and general administrative duties. Strong communication skills and previous experience in a similar environment are essential. Applications should include a CV and references.

Qualifications

• Experience operating a telephone switchboard.
• Ability to communicate warmly with staff, pupils, parents and visitors.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Welcome visitors and control visitor passes.
• Answer telephone calls and manage voicemail.
• Assist HR with compliance checks and general administrative duties.

Skills

Previous experience in a school or similar role/environment

Communication skills

Ability to meet deadlines and prioritise workload

Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office

Job description

Overview

Job Title: School Receptionist / Administrator

Reporting to: PA to Bursar with dotted line to HR Manager

Responsibilities

• Reception
• Welcome all visitors to the College, identify the appropriate host, announce arrival, and issue visitor passes. Visitor passes must be controlled to minimise unauthorised access to the site.
• Answer incoming telephone calls, route to the appropriate recipient, respond to general queries, and manage voicemail messages (pass on messages or resolve at first point of contact).
• Promote and maintain a professional, safe, tidy and presentable reception environment in line with required standards to uphold the College’s reputation.
• Maintain security standards and report faults to the appropriate person.
• Administration
• Assist the HR team with compliance checks for all sites, including Childcare Disqualification forms and mandatory online checks for each candidate (KCSIE 2025). Ensure forms are returned in a timely manner; escalate non-compliance issues to the HR Manager.
• Support the HR team with general administrative duties as required.
• Oversee new staff IDs in conjunction with HR and Security; ensure the VLE staff database is kept up to date.
• Update Phone Link with new staff/leavers as advised by HR.
• Record all daily pupil sickness absence, lateness and unauthorised absences; maintain related registers in accordance with the Registration policy.
• Follow up pupil absences to determine reasons; update daily absence lists on the VLE; advise HMM and Senior Deputy Head; update iSAMS.
• Update ‘permission to drink alcohol’ and ‘permission to bring a car to school’ lists on the VLE; print lists and distribute as necessary.
• Process ‘leave of absence’ forms, email students and HMMs, and update iSAMS, spreadsheets and filing.
• Monitor co-curricular attendance and send daily attendance reports to HMMs.
• Organise student birthday cards for all sites and arrange distribution.

Skills and Experience

• Previous experience in a school or similar role/environment.
• Experience operating a telephone switchboard.
• Ability to communicate warmly with staff, pupils, parents and visitors and act as an ambassador for the College.
• Ability to meet deadlines and prioritise workload; ability to multi-task during busy periods.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
• Ability to operate in-house systems; training will be provided.

Application Procedure

Applications should be made using the application form.

Informal conversations about the post may be arranged with the PA to the Bursar, Laura Davies [e-mail]

A full curriculum vitae and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two referees (one should be the candidate’s current or most recent employer) should be included with the application.

Applications will be reviewed on receipt and candidates may be invited to interview before the closing date. Early application is advised.

Using the webform below, please complete and submit an application form, self-declaration of criminal record form, full curriculum vitae and covering letter setting out reasons for applying for the position at Lancing College.

Upload requirements

• Upload application form: One file only. 5 MB limit. Allowed types: txt, rtf, pdf, doc, docx, odt, ppt, pptx, odp, xls, xlsx, ods.
• Upload CV: One file only. 5 MB limit. Allowed types: txt, rtf, pdf, doc, docx, odt, ppt, pptx, odp, xls, xlsx, ods.
• Upload covering letter: One file only. 100 MB limit. Allowed types: pdf, doc, docx, odt.

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