School Finance and Admin Officer Interview

[OKJ]

Hi, I have an interview next week for a Admin Position at a Primary School next week and I'm looking for some advice from those who have worked in a similar role. I've actually already interviewed for the job back in November and was told in my feedback that they decided to readvertise the position as they weren't 100% sure about any of the candidates that interviewed. The feedback from my first interview was mostly positive so I thought it would be worth reapplying and luckily they have invited me back. The main criticism was I needed to do a bit more research about what it's like to work for a school / what happens in a school office. I'm local and my kids went to the primary just across the road and are currently at the Secondary just across the road, plus I've lived in the area for 20 years so I think I have a good understanding of the local school system and what the parents / families in the area are like at least from a parent perspective. But I've never worked in a school office before so if anyone can help me with what you think is important that I should know about / research before the next interview I'd be grateful. Thanks and wish me luck:)

Working in a school office is very different to any other office.
Key things to consider are safeguarding and how to manage parents!

In a school office you get many interruptions and have to be very good at multi tasking. You will sometimes have to deal with difficult parents and know how to diffuse situations with parents and carers. You get to know pretty much everything about how the school runs over time, and it’s actually a very rewarding role. There’s a lot of variety, you never quite know what the day will bring. You will need to learn the MIS system they have in place. You need to be quick thinking, and above all of this your primary duty is to keep children safe. You need to know who the designated safegyarding lead is and how to report concerns. You also need a sense of humour!

I was in the same position a few years ago. I was asked to go in and shadow the person doing the job for a few hours. The head teacher just wanted to check I wouldn't be scared off the role and wanted to see me "in action". It was a good way of proving myself and I got the job.

It's a good sign that they're having you back in for another interview.

Big things are safeguarding, confidentiality, GDPR. For the finance role specifically they'll possibly want you to demonstrate that you are tech savvy enough to understand that scammers will try to get you to pay invoices you don't owe (spoofing a similar email address to a well-known company). Or real companies which will invoice you for services you haven't actually ordered.

Any safeguarding concerns need to be raised with your safeguarding lead or reported on CPOMS (or similar software).

Do you remember any of the questions from your initial interview which you think you didn't do well on? Share those here, it might help?

I work in the finance department of a private school that covers all school years. I didn’t have previous experience of working around children, which they knew, but they still dedicated quite a lot of the interview to safe guarding and how to respond in particular situations when a child was encountered. So this would be my recommendation for familiarising with if you are not already.

I work in school admin. It's very busy. I'd just emphasise that you are able to cope with lots of multitasking and a fast paced work environment.

Again, safeguarding. Alongside your duties as a member of school staff, it's possible you may be asked to manage the Single Central Record, and even if it's not your direct responsibility, you'll need to be familiar with it. The school can fail Ofsted outright if it's not kept properly. There should be training available for this.

Safeguarding
GDPR
Multi tasking
And
A SENSE OF HUMOUR😂

Oh and there might be some tips in The Staffroom section on this site
Good luck