"It's just a basic reception/admin assistant job. Tbh I'm over qualified but like I say I've been out of work for so long so for me it's a way back in".
Op, sorry to read you did not get the role. With kindness, your comment above hints a little that you do not think the role would have been very sophisticated. I work in schs, having come from a corporate management role. My day to day duties include, finance, contracts, HR, website, staff learning, dealing with parents, children, first aid, booking extra curricular clubs, reports, resources for teachers, letter writing, organising sch trips. To be honest they are the most demanding roles i have held where you need to be conversant with many disciplines. You must also keep yourself up to date with courses, securing safeguarding files etc. Then you have daily attendance, safe guarding calls and home visits. Certain aspects are time specific such as registers and home visits, children missing in education referrals, admissions, off rolling etc. DBS updates and other safer recruitment practices. Pupil premium, sch meals, parentpay logins etc. This list is just some of what my colleagues and i do daily. Smaller schs do not have large admin functions so all the work is undertaken by a few people. It is extremely busy and stressful. On a personal note some things you see and hear can be very distressing. There really is no such thing as a basic admin/reception job. I have to admit that i underestimated my first sch role ( in a secondary) when i first secured one but was able to adapt quickly and be extremely resourceful in skilling myself quickly. The reality is schs simply do not have the time to train people. You need to hit the ground running. This is why a lot of sch recruiters usually opt for someone who has previously worked in a sch. I think there is this view that sch admin jobs are basic and they are not. There is no such thing as being "overqualified" for a sch admin role and tbh honest it belittles people who do these roles.
If you are serious about working in a sch admin function it may be that you spk to as many people who work in one as possible. You may find after that, that it is not for you. There are also on line courses in SIMS ( i did SIMS before i applied for my first sch role ) and Arbor that you could take. Also on line safeguarding and GDPR courses, Prevent is another good one and all the keeping children safe in education ones. All of these under your belt would definitely help your application. I appreciate there is a cost in doing this but if you are serious about wanting to work in a sch they will be an investment and you will then be familiar with terminology, practices and the software at least. I found they gave me an advantage against some, when i started applying and i secured my first role. I know people who have been trying to get a sch admin role for yrs and in excess of 25 rejections after interview. Again, they still hold the view that the roles are basic even though they cannot secure one.