APPOINTMENT OF A. GENERAL SCHOOLS ADMINISTRATOR (Director s PA)

Transcription

1 APPOINTMENT OF A GENERAL SCHOOLS ADMINISTRATOR (Director s PA) June 2016

2 Introduction by the Rt Revd Richard Atkinson, Bishop of Bedford Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education Dear Applicant GENERAL SCHOOLS ADMINISTRATOR (Director s PA) Thank you for your interest in the role of General Schools Administrator (Director s PA). We believe that this is an exciting time to be working with Church Schools as the Board of Education seeks to respond to the challenges of maintaining and improving the quality of the education it provides for 28,500 children and young people across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. The post of General Schools Administrator offers a great opportunity for someone to join a highly committed, hard-working team and to undertake a wide variety of tasks and activities. The aim of this newly created post is to build capacity and to provide additional support and expertise to our schools. The likelihood of becoming bored is slim! If you would like to discuss the role further, David Morton, Diocesan Director of Education, and to whom this position reports, would be pleased to talk to you about it in more detail. Please contact David via his PA, Eileen Bigg, by (ebigg@stalbans.anglican.org) or on Yours faithfully Bishop Richard Atkinson 2

3 CONTENTS page 2 Introduction by the Bishop of Bedford 4 The Diocese of St Albans 6 The Diocesan Board of Education 8 The Schools Team The General Schools Administrator (Director s PA): 9 The role 11 Job description 13 The person specification 14 Terms and Conditions 15 How to apply, and further information 3

4 The Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans consists of the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and part of the London Borough of Barnet. The population is approximately 1.8 million, and the total electoral roll number is approximately 39,000. The Bishop of St Albans has overall responsibility for the Diocese. He is assisted by the suffragan bishops of Bedford and Hertford, the Archdeacons of Bedford, St Albans and Hertford, the Diocesan Secretary and the Dean. There are twenty deaneries and the Diocese has 336 parishes, of which about one third are rural, 201 benefices, 400 churches, 269 stipendiary clergy, 60 non-stipendiary clergy, 232 clergy with Permission to Officiate and 175 Licensed [111 with PtO] Lay Readers. There are 136 Church Schools and Academies in the Diocese. is the vision of the parishes, church schools and chaplaincies across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Luton and Barnet. This Vision is grounded in our love of God and love of neighbour flowing from God s love for us. Its three priorities are: Using Mission Action Planning we are developing confident and outward looking mission and evangelism, leading to spiritual and numerical growth. The Diocesan Synod is the elected decision-making body of the diocese and the Bishop s Council as the Standing Committee of the Synod has a key role in formulating diocesan policy. 4

5 The statutory work of the Church and support to the parishes is provided by the staff of the Diocesan Office, located in Holywell Lodge in St Albans. They work in four main teams responsible to four separate bodies which report to the Bishop s Council and are ultimately accountable to Diocesan Synod: The Board of Finance The Board of Education The Council for Discipleship and Ministry The Board for Church and Society In addition, the three Bishops, three Archdeacons and a number of diocesan officers, both lay and ordained, work throughout the diocese, sometimes in conjunction with a parish appointment. 5

6 The Diocesan Board of Education The Diocese The Schools Team works with the 136 Anglican church schools in the Diocese of St Albans, covering six Local Authorities: the London Borough of Barnet, Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Luton. Seventeen schools are Academies. Most of the schools are primary phase, but there are five secondary schools and six middle schools which are deemed secondary. The Schools Team is governed by the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE). This is a statutory body established under the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 1991, with functions including the promotion of education consistent with the faith and practice of the Church of England, the promotion of religious education and religious worship in schools and academies, the promotion of Church schools and academies in the diocese, and advice to school governors on any matter affecting church schools and academies. 6

7 The Diocesan Board of Education The Board of Education of the Diocese of St Albans exists to provide support and advice to church schools throughout the Diocese. The Diocesan Resource Centre holds resources for schools, youth work, children's work in churches and general parish use. The Centre is open to all churches and to church schools, community schools and private schools. The vision of the DBE is to see Church Schools at the heart of the Diocese s vision, Living God s Love. In aiming to achieve this goal, and building on the excellent contribution of 136 Church Schools (with more in the pipeline), of which 89.2% are either Outstanding or Good, the Board has established the following priorities: community-focused schools serving the common good outstanding education delivered in a distinctively Christian setting Church Schools at the centre of the diocesan vision Living God s Love high quality Religious Education the creation of new Church Schools within new housing developments strong and fruitful school/parish relationships rigorous safeguarding that ensures Church School pupils are celebrated as children of God These priorities are delivered in ways that recognise the unique local context of each of our schools. 7

8 The Schools Team The Schools Team The Schools Team currently comprises the following staff, and plans to expand as shown: David Morton Lizzie Jeanes Charlotte Johnson Jane Chipperton Bob Garrard Belinda Copson TBA Eileen Bigg TBA Ruth Garman TBA Director of Education Interim Deputy Director of Education Interim Deputy Director of Education RE Adviser (including SIAMS, Collective Worship, Values) Admissions Adviser School Support Officer (Governance) School Support Officer (Buildings, Land & Trusts) Schools Secretary (Director s PA) General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) General Schools Administrator (Deputy Directors PA) Schools Administrative Assistant The Schools Team is supported in their work by a team of over 20 educational consultants who provide professional and pastoral support to schools through the diocesan service level agreement. The Diocese of St Albans is one of the larger dioceses in terms of the number of schools it serves, yet has one of the smaller schools teams. This presents a number of challenges for the team which has developed a close-working relationship with each other that depends on shared vision, flexibility, hard work and a sense of humour. The appointment of a General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) is therefore an important one for the team as a whole. 8

9 The Role of the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) The role of General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) replaces that of the Schools Secretary, and has been redefined to reflect the increased variety and complexity of the work that is undertaken by the Schools Team. The post will be line-managed by the Director of Education and will involve significant work for the School Support Officer (Governance) and some work for others in the Schools Team. The post will involve working alongside the General Schools Administrator (Deputy Director s PA) and Schools Administrative Assistant, especially when facilitating conferences and courses run by the team. As the title of the post suggests, the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) will be involved in a wide range of general administrative tasks. This is a senior secretarial post, however, and the expectation is that the post-holder will contribute to the leadership and development of an area of the Team s work. It is essential that the successful candidate has the capacity to facilitate the work of committees and accurately proof-read and format a wide range of documentation. The post will ideally suit someone who is used to, or can demonstrate capability in, managing a variety of tasks simultaneously. An ability to master systems and processes quickly will be of benefit too. We will provide a full induction programme for the successful candidate. 9

10 The Role of the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) (cont d) The nature of the work undertaken by the Schools Team means that officers work remotely from our main office for a significant part of each working week. The Director and Deputy Directors spend on average two days a week in St Albans, whilst other officers largely work from home. As a result, the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) will ultimately have to be comfortable working with limited face-to-face supervision and, due to nature of the work we undertake, be highly flexible and adaptable to situations as they arise. Face-to-face contact remains an important part of the Schools Team s work, through not only the courses we run (over 30 each year) but also the diocesan Resource Centre, for which the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) will share responsibility for maintaining. This necessitates, from time to time, showing visitors round the Centre and booking resources out on loan. There is no pattern to visits to the Resource Centre and, as a result, work can be interrupted. We pride ourselves, as a team, on the quality of service we offer to our schools and to visitors to the Resource Centre and Diocesan Office. It would be an expectation that the General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) would meet the same high levels we set ourselves in this area. Conclusion We are excited about welcoming a new member to our team. The post of General Schools Administrator offers a great opportunity for someone to join a highly committed, hard-working team and to undertake a wide variety of tasks and activities. The likelihood of getting bored is slim! As such it would suit a range of applicants for a variety of backgrounds and with differing levels of experience. We hope this short introduction will enable you to decide whether to make an application. If there are any unanswered questions please don t hesitate to or ring David Morton so we can answer your questions. David Morton Director of Education ; dmorton@stalbans.anglican.org 10

11 General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) - Job Description Post Title: General Schools Administrator Line Manager: Diocesan Director of Education Overall Purpose: To act as the Director of Education s Personal Assistant, facilitating the work of the Board of Education and providing executive administrative support to the Schools Team Starting: 6 September 2016 Salary: Senior Secretarial scale Responsibilities To act as the Director of Education s PA To provide administrative support to the Director of Education and School Support Officer (Governance) To facilitate the work of the Board of Education, including servicing meetings, taking minutes and communicating with Board members Main responsibilities and tasks Director of Education s PA To act as the Director of Education s PA providing administrative and organisational support To support the Director by facilitating the work of the Board of Education and all its committees, including servicing meetings, taking minutes and communicating with Board members To proof-read and format, using the appropriate house style, all documents, publications and web-based content To manage communications to schools To maintain computerised records relating to the Diocese s 136 church schools To analyse and evaluate data and produce reports as required To oversee, in conjunction with the Director of Education, the day-to-day work of the Schools Administrative Assistant To be responsible, with the Director of Education, for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people in diocesan church schools 11

12 Administrative duties To act as first point of contact for the Schools Team, responding to phone and enquiries from schools and the general public To receive visitors to the Diocesan Office and Resource Centre and provide cover for main Reception at lunchtime when required To assist with day-to-day running of the Diocesan Resource Centre To organise and facilitate diocesan school special events, training events, courses and conferences delivered by the Schools Team To contribute to the planning, development and organisation of administrative support services systems, procedures and policies To train and develop volunteers as appropriate To provide administrative and organisational support to the School Support Officer (Governance) To maintain the diocesan database with regard to foundation governors and manage, in conjunction with the Schools Support Officer (Governance), the appointment of foundation governors To maintain, with the Schools Administrative Assistant, manual and computerised record/information systems including the diocesan database To complete and submit complex forms, returns etc, including those to outside agencies, eg Education Funding Agency To monitor and report on headteacher vacancies and appointments To record school inspections and SIAMS outcomes Responsibilities To comply with and assist in the development of policies and procedures relating to child protection, security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person To liaise with other members of the Schools Team, Diocesan Office and Diocesan Educational Consultants To establish constructive relationships and communicate with other agencies/ professionals To reflect the overall ethos of the Diocese in all aspects of the role To adhere to diocesan policies To participate in training and other learning activities and performance management as required 12

13 Person Specification: General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) Qualifications A Level or equivalent, including qualifications in English & Mathematics to GSCE level Degree level Experience Relevant experience as a senior administrator Facilitating committees and board meetings Acting as PA to a senior executive Front of House reception duties Facilitating small conferences and other events Working in an educational environment Knowledge, skills and abilities High level interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate on the telephone, in writing and face to face Good organisational skills High level of ICT skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Office Ability to proof-read and format documentation through programs including Word, Excel and PowerPoint Ability to master quickly a number of differing systems and processes Ability to work under pressure Ability to maintain confidentiality Personal Qualities Commitment to providing a professional service to schools and to the Diocesan Board of Education Flexible, adaptable High degree of professionalism Ability to work without supervision when required Commitment to working as part of a team Ability to support training away from St Albans when required Essential Desirable 13

14 Terms and Conditions Term: The appointment will be based upon a probationary period of three months during which it may be terminated by either party by one week s notice, and thereafter by three months notice on either side. DBS disclosure: The appointment is subject to enhanced DBS disclosure. Salary: The post is offered on the Senior Personal Secretary scale ( 23,245 to 26,410 (pro rata); the starting salary will depend upon qualifications and experience. Pension: There is currently a non-contributory pension scheme with the Church of England Pensions Board to which the Diocesan Board of Education make a contribution of 25% of salary. Hours: The General Schools Administrator (Director s PA) shall work a 28hr week, split over four or five days to include Fridays and school holidays, with leaving being agreed in advance with the Director of Education. In addition, the General Schools Administrator will be expected to attend three evening meetings each year of the Diocesan Board of Education to minute proceedings (to include a fourth meeting every third year). Time off in lieu is given for hours worked outside normal working hours. No overtime is paid. Holidays: Annual leave entitlement is 22 working days (pro rata) plus statutory Bank Holidays and the working days falling between Christmas and New Year bank holiday and one day in November or December for Christmas shopping. Costs: Approved expenses are paid in full through the Board of Education budget at agreed rates. Office facilities: The person appointed will be required to work in the Diocesan Office at Holywell Lodge in St Albans. Right to work: The successful applicant will need to provide proof of right to work in the UK before taking up the post. More detailed information on terms and conditions for diocesan staff will be found in the Staff Handbook. 14

15 How to apply for this position To apply for this post, please send a CV, a covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements, and the names and addresses of two referees to the Diocesan Director of Education, Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 1HE, or by to ebigg@stalbans.anglican.org. Please ensure that when submitting your CV that you include a full chronological history of full or part-time employment since leaving school. References may be taken up before interview. Please indicate if anyone may not be approached at this stage. Closing date: Interviews: Friday 24 June 2016, 12 noon Friday 1 July 2016 in St Albans Further Information Information about the Diocese can be found on 15