School Office Administration Apprentice
Parkside Academy
Willington (DL15 0QF)
Closes in 12 days (Sunday 21 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 8 September 2025
Contents
Summary
We seek to appoint a highly organised and enthusiastic School Office Administration Apprentice to join our dynamic team. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of our school office, providing administrative support to staff, pupils, and parents.
- Wage
-
£14,526.20 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices
- Training course
- Business administrator (level 3)
- Hours
-
37hrs per week, Monday - Friday, between 8am-4pm.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Monday 13 October 2025
- Duration
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1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
Specific responsibilities of this post
- To be based in the main school office located at reception.
- To provide high standards of telephone and reception skills when communicating with outside agencies, parents/carers, governors, staff and pupils.
- To provide a professional image when greeting visitors and other stakeholders.
- To prioritise telephone calls and visitor queries and deal with all requests appropriately, accurately record messages and signpost as required.
- To ensure visitor signing in procedures are followed correctly including safeguarding checks.
- To assist in the coordination and administration of parents’ evenings, options evenings and any other events similar in nature. This includes but is not limited to sending letters, text messages, creating registers for parents to sign in, setting up for the event, providing refreshments and covering events outside of the school hours.
- To open, sort and distribute incoming mail and also deal with all outgoing mail, including taking deliveries to the post office as required.
- To co-ordinate data collection sheets as required, ensuring a smooth process is adopted of sending forms home to parents, monitoring returns and updating information in SIMS to ensure an accurate record is kept at all times.
- To support with reprographic requests and ensure a timely completion and process is followed.
- To be responsible for ensuring visitors are met at the main reception door and safely evacuated to their designated point in the event of a fire and liaise with the Fire Marshalls to update registers.
- To process and update free school meal/ pupil premium data.
- To assist with pupil admissions and pupil transfers including curriculum allocation, CTF files and hardcopy files.
- To provide an efficient clerical support in relation to but not limited to sending letters and texts to parents/carers.
Where you'll work
Parkside Academy, Hall Lane
Willington
DL15 0QF
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
BISHOP AUCKLAND COLLEGE
Training course
Business administrator (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Skilled in the use of multiple IT packages and systems relevant to the organisation in order to: write letters or emails, create proposals, perform financial processes, record and analyse data. Examples include MS Office or equivalent packages. Able to choose the most appropriate IT solution to suit the business problem. Able to update and review databases, record information and produce data analysis where required.
- Produces accurate records and documents including: emails, letters, files, payments, reports and proposals. Makes recommendations for improvements and present solutions to management. Drafts correspondence, writes reports and able to review others' work. Maintains records and files, handles confidential information in compliance with the organisation's procedures. Coaches others in the processes required to complete these tasks.
- Exercises proactivity and good judgement. Makes effective decisions based on sound reasoning and is able to deal with challenges in a mature way. Seeks advice of more experienced team members when appropriate.
- Builds and maintains positive relationships within their own team and across the organisation. Demonstrates ability to influence and challenge appropriately. Becomes a role model to peers and team members, developing coaching skills as they gain area knowledge.
- Demonstrates good communication skills, whether face-to-face, on the telephone, in writing or on digital platforms. Uses the most appropriate channels to communicate effectively. Demonstrates agility and confidence in communications, carrying authority appropriately. Understands and applies social media solutions appropriately. Answers questions from inside and outside of the organisation, representing the organisation or department.
- Completes tasks to a high standard. Demonstrates the necessary level of expertise required to complete tasks and applies themself to continuously improve their work. Is able to review processes autonomously and make suggestions for improvements. Shares administrative best-practice across the organisation e.g. coaches others to perform tasks correctly. Applies problem-solving skills to resolve challenging or complex complaints and is a key point of contact for addressing issues.
- Takes responsibility for initiating and completing tasks, manages priorities and time in order to successfully meet deadlines. Positively manages the expectations of colleagues at all levels and sets a positive example for others in the workplace. Makes suggestions for improvements to working practice, showing understanding of implications beyond the immediate environment (e.g. impact on clients, suppliers, other parts of the organisation). Manages resources e.g. equipment or facilities. Organises meetings and events, takes minutes during meetings and creates action logs as appropriate. Takes responsibility for logistics e.g. travel and accommodation.
- Uses relevant project management principles and tools to scope, plan, monitor and report. Plans required resources to successfully deliver projects. Undertakes and leads projects as and when required.
Training schedule
The apprenticeship will be delivered entirely in the workplace. You will be required to attend Bishop Auckland College to complete the end-of-unit test in our online test centre.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 9-4 / A*-C / Level 2)
- Maths (grade 9-4 / A*-C / Level 2)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Organisation skills
- Team working
- Able to follow direction
- work flexibly to support team
- Enthusiasm and self-confidence
- Caring and supportive
Other requirements
Passing a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and suitable references.
About this employer
Parkside is an excellent school which prides itself on being consistently one of the most successful schools within County Durham. Our students are at the heart of everything that we do. All staff are dedicated to delivering an exceptional quality of education for each individual student. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere in the school exemplifying our ethos of aspiration, hard work and achievement. This is achieved through students being valued, understood and celebrated. In order for all students to be successful they must feel safe and cared for. To achieve this, we operate a culture of high expectations and standards for all students. We instil traditional values of personal organisation and respect for all members of the Academy and within the wider community. We pride ourselves on securing educational excellence for all students in our care. Our students are smart, polite, reliable and enthusiastic and leave us as successful, high achieving young people.
After this apprenticeship
To be discussed at interview.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
BISHOP AUCKLAND COLLEGE
David Brough
apprenticeships@bacoll.ac.uk
01388 743164
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000340521.
Apply now
Closes in 12 days (Sunday 21 September 2025 at 11:59pm)
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