Receptionist (Maternity Cover) - Dorchester Middle School

Receptionist

Grade 2, SCP 2 - £23,656 - £24,027 pro-rata 

Required June (maternity cover) 

21 hours per week, term-time only

Working Hours: Monday – Wednesday:  8:00am – 4.00pm

We are looking to appoint a flexible and enthusiastic Receptionist to join our friendly school.  You will be required to provide general administrative support with key responsibility for the monitoring of telephone calls and ensuring all visitors are received in an efficient and effective manner. 

The successful candidate should have excellent organisational, IT and customer service skills, with a positive approach to work.  The post will include whole school administrative tasks, especially SIMS related, deal with enquiries direct or redirect to the appropriate member of the school’s staff, taking messages and arranging appointments and ensuring messages are passed to staff in a timely manner, addressing internal and external communications that come the way of the general office.

The administrative and communication functions of the school are currently supported by the SIMS management information system and School Comms.  We also use Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher and Outlook.

Previous experience of working in a school would be an advantage and an ability to work in a very busy office with frequent interruptions is essential.  

Closing Date:                Wednesday 23^rd April 2025 (midday)

Interview Date:             TBC

Dorchester Middle School is a member of the Wessex Multi-Academy Trust and also part of the successful Dorchester Area Schools Partnership (DASP) of local First, Middle and Upper schools who share resources, planning and expertise in order to enhance continuity across all stages of the children’s’ education.

Dorchester Middle School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

Dorchester Middle School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.

The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted at the start of employment and again if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ’s guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Dorchester Middle School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.