Job Description

We are looking to recruit an Office Secretary to work in our busy office at Coopersale Hall School in Epping, CM16 7PE.

The successful candidate will have:

Excellent admin skills including outstanding levels of accuracy and attention to detail A high level of IT proficiency, including accurate typing and keyboard skills Excellent MS Office proficiency, including in Excel A high level of discretion and confidentiality Excellent written and oral communication skills The ability to communicate with a wide range of audiences The ability to work effectively as part of a team A high level of flexibility and commitment to the role The willingness to show initiative and take responsibility.
The position is to start at the end of August 2025, with the following terms of employment:

Working 38 out of 52 weeks of the year (term times, training days + 3 weeks in the holidays) Hours from 8am until 4.45pm Salary 23,500pa Company pension scheme School lunches included during term times with complimentary refreshments

Main Purpose of the Role

This role is as a receptionist and admin secretary in the school office at Coopersale Hall School in Epping. You will have sufficient experience working in an office environment, proven secretarial skills and excellent awareness of customer service needs. Experience using all Microsoft Office packages, especially spreadsheets in Excel and Word documents, is essential and previous use of large databases would be useful.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

General

To ensure that the office offers a welcoming environment for parents, visitors, staff and pupils. To answer the telephones in a personable and welcoming manner. To arrange appointments as necessary. To deal with incoming correspondence and e-mails. To post letters/prospecti and other external correspondence To deal with enquiries from parents, staff and pupils as promptly as possible. To contact parents and outside agencies as necessary. To type letters, documents and promotional literature as required. To use the IT systems and help keep the Engage database up-to-date. To record and file information, in strict confidence, when required. To attend meetings, taking notes and writing minutes as required. To photocopy and file relevant documentation. To assist with first aid for children and complete accident forms, as required. To administer medicines as required in accordance with parental consent. To assist with the school archiving. To ensure that all work, communication and demeanour conforms to Oak-Tree brand values. To be vigilant throughout the school day with regard to visitors entering and leaving the site, including signing in visitors. To promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice. To comply with Child Protection procedures and report any concerns immediately to the relevant person. To follow Health and Safety procedures and report any concerns immediately to the relevant person. To follow the school's Data Protection Policy.

Pupil-Related Matters

To oversee the administration of the Engage attendance system on a daily basis. To ensure that the Attendance Registers are completed correctly on Engage. To contact families to check absence as and when it occurs. To administrate Medical Form requests for daily short term medication. To co-ordinate and keep updated the Medical Records File and ensure medication kept on site is in current date. To maintain the Allergy and Asthma and Epipen registers. To liaise annually with school photographer for Class/Individual photo's. Load photo's onto pupils profile via engage.

Reception Duties:

To keep the staff signing-in sheets regularly updated. To oversee the visitors' signing-in book and ensure that lanyards are correctly issued and recalled. To oversee the pupil signing-in book. To manage, open and distribute the daily post. To ensure that the Reception area is kept tidy and presentable for visitors.

Communication:

To keep the electronic school diary up-to-date and appropriately recorded. To anticipate future entries in the school diary and organise necessary paperwork for events, parents' evenings etc. To deal with administrative arrangements for School Events and outings. To prepare and appropriately distribute full weekly staff bulletins with information taken from the school diary and other sources. To prepare and publish parents' evening bookings through the portal. To administer and oversee the generation of group texts to parents when necessary through the Groupcall system. To organise the administration of options booklets, programmes and orders of service. To edit and generate policy documents and handbooks when required. To coordinate the distribution of emails and letters via Engage and Outlook. To oversee the info@ email address and forward or respond to messages as required. To check and update diary dates in the Heads' letter and send to HQ by the monthly deadline. Publish to parents once link has been created by the Marketing Department. To coordinate and publish the monthly school newsletter. To send curriculum updates to parents.

Trips and Events:

To add trip, PE and event details to the school calendar. To book transport where required and update the organiser. To scan and send trip paperwork to HQ for costing once processed by the EVC and Head. To update the trips spreadsheet with costings when returned from HQ (to be accessed by accounts for invoicing), save PDFs in the Trips folder in shared drive and print for EVC. To add costings to the letter provided by the trip organiser and distribute to parents. If the trip is overseas, when passports & EHIC cards are received from parents, to secure in the school safe and collate details as required on the spreadsheet before the trip and make photocopies for EVC, Group Managing Principal and trip organiser. To liaise with members of the Coopersale Hall Parents' Association in matters that requires support, such as the booking and reconciling of trips. To assist with administration for residential trips, sports day, swimming gala, Oak-Tree Festival and school productions. To assist with the booking and administration of book fairs. To assist with the coordination and the administration for major school events such as Prize Day/Sports Day/Carol Services.

Staff Support:

To provide secretarial support for members of the Senior Leadership Team and other staff. To liaise with members of the Normanhurst School Parents' Association in matters that require support. To provide administrative support on a rotational basis at parents' evenings. To assist the Office Manager as required.

Professional Development

To attend INSET courses and keep well informed about new developments in the educational world and statutory requirements. To take part in the School Performance Management Programme and attend School INSET as required.
The Office Secretary should also be prepared to undertake other such specific duties that may from time to time be assigned by the Senior Leadership Team.

Person Specification:

Essential:

Good standard of education - attainment of GCSE or equivalent to include English or Maths Grade C or above. Excellent administrative skills. Excellent Excel skills High level of IT proficiency including accurate typing and keyboard skills. High level of discretion, understanding of and experience of maintaining confidentiality. Excellent written and oral communication skills, including telephone manner. Ability to communicate with a wide range of audiences including staff, parents and pupils. Ability to work effectively as part of a team, understanding staff roles, responsibilities and your own position within these. Ability to react calmly and quickly in an emergency. Ability to comply with policies and procedures relating to child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality, data protection and equal opportunities. Flexibility and commitment to the role. Willingness to show initiative and take responsibility.

Desirable

Experience working in a school environment. Experience working in sales and/or admissions. Experience working closely with a marketing department. First Aid qualification.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 23,500.00 per year

Benefits:

Company pension Cycle to work scheme Discounted or free food Free parking On-site parking Sick pay
Schedule:

Day shift Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:

Epping CM16 7PE: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person