PA to Head

Danes Hill School is widely recognised as one of the leading co-educational day preparatory schools in the country. Situated in 55 acres of beautifully landscaped rural grounds in the village of Oxshott, Surrey, the school has capacity for 880 pupils and is divided into four sections.

The first three years of school – for the Mini Transition, Transition and Reception children - are together called the Early Years and are situated at Bevendean. Bevendean is Danes Hill Pre-Prep school and it is where we help all children to take their first learning steps in a caring, sharing, safe and confident environment with its own section Head and teaching cohort.

The Main School is divided into the Lower School (Years 2 and 3), Middle School (Years 4 and 5), and Upper School (Years 6 to 8), each with its own section Head, assemblies and traditions. Children are supported and nurtured within their particular section of the school, and this sectional subdivision ensures that the school never feels overwhelmingly big.

At Danes Hill, we aim to take every child in our care on a most extraordinary journey, and one which nurtures the talent and provides the skills and experience to last a lifetime. Our size enables us to provide a uniquely broad curriculum as well as specialist staff. Danes Hill pupils thrive, achieving success on the sports field, in the examination hall, or wherever their talents lie. Testament to this is the fact that in 2021, Danes Hill pupils were awarded 46 Senior School scholarships. We are also an inclusive school, where every pupil is equally important to us. The development and nurturing of the individual is the focus of our environment at Danes Hill. Art, Drama, Music & Sport are all renowned strengths of the school and pastoral care and learning support are also key components of this holistic environment. Every pupil is encouraged to make the most of the wealth of opportunities available to them.

We believe the most valuable asset we have is our people. Our people-investment strategy is geared towards nurturing, supporting, training and the development of every single member of the workforce, whatever their role in the pursuit of excellence in everything that we do.

The incoming Head, Maxine Shaw will be joining the school in September 2022, from St Paul’s Juniors in Barnes, and will be leading the drive for even higher levels of excellence. 

Reporting to

Reports to the Head (acting head, Rob Andrews, head designate Maxine Shaw, Sept 2022); liaison with senior team and the governing body

Job purpose

To be responsible for all administrative tasks relating to the Head and to assist with all administrative tasks relating to liaison with the senior team and governing body.

Main duties

The duties listed below are neither exclusive nor exhaustive and the post holder may be required by the Head to carry out other appropriate duties within the wider context of the role:

• Authority: The PA is authorised to sign correspondence on behalf of Danes Hill School and the Head in the execution of his/her duties; act on behalf of the Head when absent from Danes Hill School or unavailable and deal with and respond to such matters that may arise.
• Secretarial Responsibilities:
  • acting as PA to the Head of the school
  • liaising directly on behalf of the Head with all constituents within the school community, both internal and external
  • producing and distributing letters on behalf of the Head drafting where necessary taking and producing minutes of meetings as required, including matters of confidentiality, both weekly staff briefings and the pastoral team meeting
  • liaising on behalf of the Head with members of the SLT, other Teaching and Support Staff, and the pupil community
• Administrative Responsibilities:
  • Managing the Head’s programme and electronic diary of events
  • Acting as the single point of contact for the Head for guests and visitors
  • Recruitment administration for the appointment of members of the Teaching Staff, working closely with the Human Resources Director.

Qualities & skillset:

• The ability to forge good relationships with the colleagues
• Show respect and maintain complete confidentiality at all times
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• The ability to use effectively standard software packages (eg. Microsoft Office) and to learn bespoke packages as required including SIMS, iSAMS, Cascade HR, and Concur.
• Good customer service and relationship-building skills
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Impeccable attention to detail
• Assertiveness, enthusiasm and motivation
• Emotionally intelligent, flexible, with good humour under pressure
• Tact, discretion and diplomacy
• The ability to be proactive and use initiative
• Previous experience of working within a busy independent school setting would be advantageous

Core hours of work:

Full time, 40 hours per week during term and contracted for “term-time plus” – (term time plus means additional days or weeks as required during the school holidays to support the Acting Head, Rob Andrews, and the new Head, Maxine Shaw from September 2022 (to be agreed in detail with Maxine Shaw in due course).

Holidays:

Holidays must align with the operational requirements of the school and generally can only be taken during the traditional school holiday breaks, and always be pre-agreed with the Head.

Benefits:

• After one year’s probation, the part remission of fees for children of employees (subject to independent financial assessment). Please note that remission of school fees is not a contractual entitlement. The school governing body reserves the right to vary the rate of remission or to withdraw it altogether.
• Free daily lunches provided in the School dining hall.
• Free parking on site.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Private healthcare.
• Stakeholder Pension Scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme (once established); an independent, free and confidential advice service that can offer both practical advice and emotional support.
• Policy for funding external professional development and training, and reimbursement of relevant professional membership fees.

Please visit the school website to obtain the application form.

Candidates must complete the school application form on the website and send it via email to the Bursar at bursar@daneshill.surrey.sch.uk by midday Wednesday 3 November, after which no late applications will be included in the process.

Shortlisting of candidates will take place w/c 8 November 2021, with face to face interviews taking place here in school in the following w/c 15 November 2021.

All staff have a responsibility and duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils. Staff must be aware of the systems within the School which support safeguarding and must act in accordance with the School’s Safeguarding & Child Protection policy and Code of Conduct. Staff will receive appropriate child protection training which is regularly updated.