Headteachers PA and Office Manager - Higham Lane North Academy

37 hours per week, 39 weeks (Term-Time only plus 5 INSET days)

Start Date: June 2025

About the Role

Higham Lane North Academy is delighted to welcome applications for the post of Headteacher's PA and Office Manager for a June 2025 start.

Applications are invited from highly organised and adaptable individuals. The successful candidate will work closely with the Headteacher to provide comprehensive and confidential support.

General Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide confidential support to the Headteacher, representing them in various contexts.
• Serve as an ambassador for the school, maintaining a positive image and reputation.
• Assist in the leadership and management of the school, ensuring smooth operations.
• Directly supervise a small team that will grow over time. In the first year, this will include a School Receptionist, providing leadership, guidance, and support.
• Manage recruitment, performance reviews, work allocation, and ensure the quality of work.
• Take direct responsibility for managing a small budget, ensuring accurate monitoring and accounting for expenditure.
• Ensure the secure processing of information, always maintaining confidentiality.
• Contribute to the wellbeing of individuals and groups within the school community, considering the physical, mental, and social aspects of health and safety.
• Provide key support for the school by fulfilling essential roles such as First Aider, Mental Health First Aider, and Fire Marshal.
• Assist with break and lunchtime duty cover and manage lesson changeovers.
• Assist with the organisation of key school events.
• Support the management of email and written correspondence.
• Keep school policies up to date and share them through the appropriate platform.
• Ensure the school website and related social media platforms are current and aligned with relevant guidelines.
• Organise and coordinate visits from external parties.
• Provide administrative support to the Data Protection Officer.
• Ensure that appropriate cover arrangements are made.
• Liaise with staff in the planning of Educational Visits offering advice and support where necessary.
• Manage office support functions, incoming enquiries, and supporting with reception duties efficiently.
• Conduct research and information-gathering tasks.
• Provide full secretarial and administrative support, including word processing, filing (both electronic and manual), dictation, agenda creation, and minute-taking for meetings if required by the Headteacher and other SLT members.
• Leverage ICT to improve efficiency and service quality, including the maintenance and accuracy of school databases (e.g., pupil and staff records) and the use of relevant software.
• Ensure compliance with financial procedures, including managing a small budget, authorising minor expenditures, and negotiating with external suppliers to ensure value for money.
• Oversee the administration systems, processes, and routines, continuously improving and implementing necessary changes.
• Prepare and respond to complex enquiries, produce reports, and collect and analyse relevant data.
• Develop, manage, and maintain both electronic and manual filing and record-keeping systems to ensure accuracy and accessibility.
• Supervise and manage a small team of clerical/admin staff, ensuring effective administrative support across various activities. This includes overseeing recruitment, performance management, and work allocation.

What we offer

At Higham Lane North Academy, our staff are our most precious resource. We are committed to offering you:

• A supportive, collaborative working environment that places staff workload and wellbeing at the heart of all working practices.
• A clear behaviour and praise policy that enables all teachers to teach, and all pupils to learn effectively with a highly visible and supportive senior leadership team.
• A commitment to an ambitious, broad and balanced knowledge curriculum that is highly considerate of teacher workload and wellbeing, particularly around planning, assessment and feedback.
• Research-based teaching and learning practice and strategies developed with workload and wellbeing in mind.
• Weekly CPD opportunities with a careful balance between whole-school, subject and personal priorities to be even more effective.
• Opportunities to obtain professional qualifications and develop your career over the coming years in a growing school.
• The opportunity to work with a highly experienced, effective, forward-thinking and ambitious senior leadership and Trust team.
• A supportive senior leadership and trust team that will regularly seek your feedback to hear your views on what is going well, and how we can be even more effective.
• The opportunity to work collaboratively with other schools within our trust.

Employee Support Schemes:

• Subsidised eye care for extended VDU users.
• A Gym Membership Scheme.
• A Cycle to Work Scheme.
• An Employee Assistance Programme, providing practical and emotional support.
• An Employee Benefits Scheme, offering discounts on everyday essentials.
• A Health Cash Plan benefit, providing reimbursements for various health-related expenses.

Further details about the role

Higham Lane North Academy is set to open with up to five forms of entry (150 places) in Year 7. This state-of-the-art school and community resource is at the new, Milby Meadows neighbourhood on Upper Farm Drive, Nuneaton Warwickshire, CV11 6YN.

How to Apply

Please complete the Application Form, as well as the Equality Details Form, that you will find on the school’s website (www.hlna.co.uk) and email them to jobs@hlna.co.uk, indicating in the message title the post you are applying for.

If you would like to have a chat about this post, please contact Kirstie Robinson, Headteacher Designate, on 024 7638 8123. The closing date for applications is 9pm, Sunday 27^th April 2025.

Please address the following points when completing the ‘Additional Information’ section of the application form:

•Why you feel your personal qualities and experience make you an excellent candidate for this position.

Additional Information

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and will also be taken through the school's vetting procedure.

TES Blurb

We are looking for an inspirational, dedicated and exceptional individual to join our brand-new secondary school as Headteacher's PA and Office Manager. This is an exciting and unique opportunity, and we can’t wait to hear from you!