Graduate Office and Classroom Assistant Full Time NEW

Summary

This full-time role offers an excellent opportunity for a recent university graduate who enjoys working with young children aged 2–7 and is also keen to gain experience in a busy school office. It would be particularly well suited to someone considering a career in teaching or wishing to develop further experience in school administration. The position provides valuable insight into the day-to-day operations of a school and a well-rounded introduction to school life.

The successful candidate will be caring and nurturing, genuinely enjoy working with young children, and strive for excellence in everything they do. They will be friendly, positive, and approachable, with a good sense of humour, and will thrive in a lively, fun, and fast-paced school environment. Flexibility and a willingness to support both classrooms and office staff are essential.

We envisage the role being split approximately 50% in the school office and 50% working in classrooms alongside teaching staff, although there is flexibility in this arrangement depending on the school’s needs as well as the candidate’s skills and experience.

In return, we offer a uniquely friendly and supportive working environment, well-resourced facilities, and a competitive Term-Time Only salary of £21,610 per year (i.e., for 34.6 working weeks in the year, Monday – Friday 8.30am – 5.00pm).

School background

Herne Hill School is a well-established independent Pre-Preparatory and Pre-School in South London. It is the largest stand-alone independent school in the country focusing exclusively for two-year-olds through to Year 2.

Since its foundation in 1976, it has had only one purpose: providing young children with the best possible start for a successful and balanced academic life. There are about 300 pupils on roll, split into the Kindergarten at our new, dedicated and state-of-the art site at 99 Herne Hill, which then feeds into Pre-Reception, Reception, Year 1 and ultimately Year 2 classes at our main site at 127 Herne Hill.

There are approximately 82 staff members (about 29 teachers and peripatetic instructors, 46 teaching assistants and 7 support staff), who are overseen by the Headteacher, Ngaire Telford, and the Director/Proprietor, Dominik Magyar. Everyone works towards fulfilling our common purpose:

“At Herne Hill School, we prepare young children for life …

by providing the finest individual education …

… based on a bedrock of love and care.”

The school’s ethos of Love ∙ Care ∙ Excellence encapsulates our commitment to excellence and our belief that love and care are prerequisites for a top-quality education. The school’s atmosphere lives this philosophy. It is a caring, friendly, fun, supportive and well-resourced environment conducive to optimal learning and development.

Our website and the last ISI inspection report, which can also be found there, provide a good overview of our values, approach to teaching and learning and modus operandi.

Candidates who would like to see more detailed information on the school’s provision and daily life can email our Registrar Catherine Ross at enquiries@hernehillschool.co.uk to request access to the password-protected Prospective Parent Area on our website.

Job description

The approx. 50% Office Assistant role of the post contributes substantially to the smooth running of the school office, including being one of “the faces of the school” to parents and prospective parents. Its main purpose is to support the office team by performing tasks such as (but not limited to) the following:

·    Ordering school supplies

·    Petty cash

·    Database inputting inc. daily, monthly and termly attendance registers

·    Logging staff absences

·    Recording and analysing pupil accidents

·    New employee recruiting and vetting

·    Receptionist and general office duties such as door opening, telephone answering, passing on messages, photocopying, distributing mail.

·    Support services to the Head, the Director and other senior staff members as required, such as writing letters, arranging meetings, making transport and other arrangements for school outings and visits.

The main duties and responsibilities of the approx. 50% Classroom Assistant role of the post include:

·    Supporting the teacher(s) and wrap-around care leaders by:

–   Helping with the preparation and maintenance of an effective and safe learning environment

–   Contributing to the preparation of learning activities, supporting their delivery and monitoring their success and pupils‘ response, feeding back information as appropriate

–   Contributing to the maintenance of pupil and classroom records and the teacher’s effective communication with parents

·    Supporting children and their learning by:

–   Establishing fair, respectful, trusting, supportive and constructive relationships with them

–   Safeguarding and promoting their welfare through all possible means, including the provision of a safe, secure and trusting environment

–   Having high developmental and behavioural expectations of all children and a commitment to help them achieve their full potential, giving them constructive feedback as appropriate

–   Motivating and encouraging them to develop their own ideas and creativity and promoting their creativity

–   Promoting their self-esteem, independence, positive values, behaviours and attitudes

–   Monitoring and assessing their progress and taking appropriate action

Additional duties and responsibilities we expect all of our employees to meet include:

·    Understanding and living out the HHS ethos of Love ∙ Care ∙ Excellence and its implications for day-to-day interactions with children and adults

·    Getting along well with others on the team and demonstrating strong commitment to team culture, always placing overall team success above self

·    Taking an active role in developing your own professional skills and expertise and helping the development of others

·    Participating in appraisal reviews of yourself and others

·    Participating in meetings and school events

·    Contributing to the development, image and well-being of the whole school

The actual annual salary of £21,610 is for Monday – Friday 8.30am – 5.00pm, Term-Time Only (34.6 school/working weeks as well as pay for the 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday entitlement), starting on Tuesday 1 September 2026 through Thursday 8 July 2027. The detailed term dates are published on our website.

The salary includes payment for the lunch and morning breaks, which is not always the case at other schools. It also includes attendance on typically two open mornings per year as well as, occasionally, parent evenings and school events; this is considered to be part of the job. The salary is paid in monthly instalments.

From time to time, there is an opportunity for additional remuneration by working further wrap-around care hours, including supporting the breakfast club from 7.30am or after-school provision until 5.30pm or 6.00pm. Furthermore, there is an additional earning opportunity by working additional weeks as part of our holiday provision for 2-4 year-olds.

Person specification

Successful candidates will:

·   Have ideally graduated from university with a good academic result

·   Have experience of working with young children and genuinely enjoy supporting their learning, imagination, energy and enthusiasm

·   Share our commitment to excellence, high standards and high expectations, alongside a strong belief that care and kindness underpin a high-quality education

·   Be caring, enthusiastic and positive, with a warm personality and a good sense of humour

·   Demonstrate initiative, drive and energy, and approach their work with professionalism and enthusiasm

·   Be flexible, adaptable, creative and innovative in a fast-paced school environment

·   Be well organised and efficient, able to work independently, prioritise tasks, multitask and work effectively under pressure

·   Be a constructive and reliable team player, able to work collaboratively with colleagues

·   Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills with both adults and children

·   Act with discretion at all times and maintain confidentiality

·   Be confident with numbers and spreadsheets

·   Be meticulous and detail oriented as well as used to cross-checking their work independently to avoid mistakes

·   Possess strong IT skills

–   Spreadsheet and word processing skills (Excel and Word) are essential

–   In addition, experience with some of the following would be highly welcome: Website editing (Wordpress), Microsoft Office 365 (Outlook, Calendar, One Drive, Powerpoint, etc.), DocuSign, Dropbox, Mailchimp, AdobeAcrobat or other PDF software, etc.

Safeguarding and child protection

Herne Hill School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share that commitment. The School’s safeguarding policy is available on our website.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a self-declaration of their criminal record or information that would make them unsuitable to work with children.

The School will perform all required pre-employment checks on successful candidates, including with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and, where appropriate, a check of the Barred List maintained by the DBS. Any offer of employment will be conditional on obtaining satisfactory results for all checks.

It is an offence to apply for the role if they are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

How to apply

Please download the application form from our website or other recruiting websites. Once completed, email it to enquiries@hernehillschool.co.uk, addressed to the Headteacher, Mrs Ngaire Telford. Early applications are welcome and encouraged.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!