Receptionist

We are looking for an experienced part-time receptionist administrator to be the welcoming face to Harris Boys' Academy for all visitors, staff and students.  You will be supporting the main office function and be part of the wider associate staff team.

We are happy to negotiate on hours to cover the middle of the day from Monday to Friday, working term time plus 2 weeks.

About Us

Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich opened in September 2009 and is part of the Outstanding Harris Federation. Our vision is clear: nothing is impossible and everything is possible, irrespective of personal characteristics or background. Every problem has a solution. We believe we are more robust, resilient and determined as a team than as a group of individuals. We support, challenge and hold each other to account at all levels within the academy to ensure that our students achieve their potential, are motivated, engaged and fully prepared for life beyond our academy. The academy’s specialisms are Enterprise and Sport with a ‘can-do’ ethos of always improving upon your personal best.  The Academy will accommodate 750 boys when full. Harris Boys' benefits from a state-of-the-art purpose-built building with the very latest facilities and equipment. The Academy offers a co-educational Post 16 with the nearby Harris Girls' Academy, together comprising capacity for 400 Sixth Formers. Harris Boys' was judged to be an outstanding school by Ofsted in December 2011.

Academy Ethos

We encourage our students to be critical thinkers and promote these skills throughout the curriculum. A student at Harris Boys' Academy will learn how to engage critically with foreign affairs, religion and society, issues of citizenship and the media, so they acquire the skills, and recognise the value of, thinking for yourself and thinking in a well-reasoned manner.

“We are very lucky to have an amazing staff team who work together, and what you get from this is an inertia of this body of professionals who are striving to be the very best they can be. It is down to these two points – staff who are on board, who want to change futures and want to be better at what they do, and students who buy into this idea of ‘I’m at school because I can make myself a better person and I can flourish in life.’ When you have these two points together, which is what we have worked very hard to obtain, then you can make wonderful things happen. And that’s shown through our outcomes and is also shown through if you’ve ever had a chance to speak to the boys and the parents of this school community.” Peter Groves, Principal

Main Areas of Responsibility

Your responsibilities will be: 

• To provide a customer focussed professional reception service to visitors, staff and pupils 
• To receive and deal with, telephone calls, enquiries and visitors to the Academy via the Front Office and to ensure the staffing of the reception desk and switchboard 
• To ensure all visitors are issued with security badges and comply with the Academy Safeguarding Procedures by signing in and out of the building. 
• To deal with correspondence and e-mails appropriately 
• Assist the Attendance Officer, as required, in forwarding messages related to pupil absence 
• To undertake administrative & Clerical Tasks using Word, Excel and PowerPoint as required, including entering details and correspondence and data items to Bromcom Management Information System 
• To file student records as required 
• To receive, sort and deal with school forms, pupil files, round robins and reports as and if required 
• To assist with photocopying and other reprographics tasks as directed by the Reprographics Manager 
• To be a First Aider and administer First Aid if required (training provided) 
• To extend hospitality to visitors to the school and escort them to appropriate staff as required 
• To attend to such duties as requested by the Principal / Principal’s PA to enable the smooth running of the Academy Office on a daily basis 
• To ensure that the Principal’s PA / Principal is fully briefed on all important Academy matters which have come to your attention through the Front Office 
• To assist in the monitoring of site security systems including CCTV

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will have: 

• Numeracy and literacy skills to a minimum Level 2 (A*-C GCSE or equivalent) 
• High quality ICT skills including Word, Excel and PowerPoint 
• Excellent communication skills including telephone manner and presentation of professional image 
• Good customer care skills 
• Good organisational and interpersonal skills which indicate a warm, efficient and hospitable manner to all 

Next Steps

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us via e-mail, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. You will need this when completing your application.

Please note: we may hold interviews as and when applications are received and we reserve the right to offer to a candidate prior to the closing date. We only accept applications submitted online via our careers website and which are completed before the closing deadline. With this in mind, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible and advise you check the job information as per the listing on our careers site.

Rewards & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.

We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.

In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.