Finance Officer

Are you an experienced Finance Officer with prior experience of working within an academy environment, considering a new opportunity? Are you interested in supporting two new schools from the beginning of their journey? Bearsted Primary Academy and Snowfields Academy, part of Leigh Academies Trust, now have a unique opportunity available for a qualified and credible finance professional to join our team and to support both of our new academies in this pivotal role. Our successful candidate will join us from the end of August, offering full assistance to the Finance Manager from the off-set by contributing to the overall objectives of Bearsted Primary and Snowfields Academy by ensuring that comprehensive and correct financial information is kept.

The working basis of this role is 25 hours per week i.e. 5 hours per day (hours to increase annually as academy grows) during Term Time plus 3 additional weeks inset. The actual salary offered is £12,531 - £13,746 per annum (FTE £20,930- £22,961). Please note that the successful candidate will be required to attend two inset days on 27th and 28th August 2020.

Bearsted Primary Academy: Bearsted Primary Academy, opening in September 2020, will be welcoming its first cohort of Reception children of up to 60 pupils, two classes of 30 in each. Every year we will continue to grow our academy until we reach full capacity of 420 pupils across Years R - 6. As Leigh Academies Trust’s brand new Free School, we aim to provide its children with a nurturing and enriching environment.

Our aim at Bearsted Primary Academy is to allow all children an opportunity to reach their full potential, where ambition knows no bounds making every moment count. Surrounded by talented, dedicated practitioners, we aim to deliver pupils engaging and challenging experiences and opportunities within their education, which are both enjoyable and develop a thirst for learning. In doing this, we look to provide the highest quality learning experiences for every child, utilising our brand new facilities and resources including our outdoor Forest School provision.

We are committed to providing an education and environment where children feel safe and cared for, take risks and embrace learning, experience a sense of pride in all that they achieve, and where children can develop a variety of social, emotional and academic skills preparing them for a bright future.

Bearsted Primary Academy focuses on the development of the whole child, both in and outside of the classroom, with an emphasis on inquiry-led learning, encouraging our pupils to challenge, question and take ownership of their learning. In order to achieve this, we believe in the importance of building strong partnerships between the adults and pupils in our school, ensuring all learners succeed and benefit from the relationships formed within a caring and encouraging environment. Therefore to be a successful candidate you need to be passionate, dedicated, proactive and caring. We are looking for someone who has good communication skills and is flexible in their approach when supporting children and working alongside other colleagues. As a Trust we believe it is important to be positive, inspirational and a real team player.

Snowfields Academy: Snowfields Academy is a new secondary provision for students with ASD. We will offer 140 places across year groups 7-13 for young people who are working at or close to age related expectations. Class sizes will be small with 12 in each class, supported by 2-3 teaching assistants according to need. We will offer a range of GCSEs and other qualifications for young people on a blend of academic and vocational pathways. The academy will benefit from being a brand new school with a design tailored to the students it provides for, carefully considered to make the most of both its inside and outside environments in order to enhance the learning of its students. The environment will support specialisms in horticulture and catering with a purpose designed teaching kitchen, servery and cafe, and internal and external horticulture facilities supporting our students into employment. We will work closely with local businesses to offer an outstanding range of work experience opportunities and supported internships.

Being a part of Leigh Academies Trust: As of 1st September 2020, our Trust will comprise 28 geographically organised academies (11 secondaries, 15 primaries and 2 special) educating over 16,000 students, and employing over 2,500 talented staff.  We also have one further secondary academy in the development phase, due to open in September 2021.  The Trust is establishing four ‘clusters’ of academies: North West Kent; Central Kent; South East London; Medway. In addition, the Trust is responsible for one of the region’s biggest initial teaching training providers and a large teaching school. Click here to view our future plans in our Vision 2025 document.  

As part of Leigh Academies Trust you will have ample opportunity to collaborate with your peers both within the academy and across the whole Trust.  This is an important part of our vision as we know through experience that we perform better when we work together.  You are supported to undertake regular self-development to continue your professional development and hopefully progress further within the organisation.

Recruitment and hiring during COVID-19: Despite the challenges we face, recruitment and hiring will continue for all Leigh Academies Trust vacancies with as little disruption as possible over the coming weeks and months.  This is for all senior, teaching and support staff appointments.  Applications will still be reviewed and interviews conducted in a timely manner, although interview activities will vary. If you have any queries or concerns, please get in touch with the LAT Talent Team - talent@latrust.org.uk

Based on the quality and quantity of applications received, Leigh Academies Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy sooner than the specified closing date.  Applicants will be notified of this where possible. Therefore, early applications are encouraged.