Is anyone a school bursar/ administrator/business manager?

[3littlebears]

I'm really keen to get into this, but it's a really competitive area - everyone wants term-time jobs! I have lots of business experience but no accounting qualifications - do you think you need to be qualified CIPFA/CIMA starting off? Would AAT be sufficient, or do you think a qualification is not essential? Any insider info would be interesting thanks.

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Depends on the school - and salaries are pro-rated accordingly! Do you do this job?

You wouldn't need to have an accounting qualification. You would need a lot of experience of manageing budgets, managing staff, and managing premises though. Preferably in a similar organisation.

If you work in the private sector you will be preferred if you are retired ex-forces.....

And most of these jobs are FT, all year.

If you want to pursue this and don't have this sort of experience, then I'd suggest working as a school admin assistant to start with, then school admin officer. Or maybe work in your local authority and work up from that.

(I don't do this job BTW but did look into it a while ago...)

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I work at a junior school - our bursar is largely term time only, but she does work at least 3-4 weeks of the holiday over the year, usually a few days at Xmas, a week at Easter (especially if it's near the financial year end) & a couple of weeks in the summer.

You're more likely to find a term-time only job in a primary school, but it's also more likely to be less strictly financial & more 'getting on with what needs doing'. The last time I saw our bursar before half term, she was looking for marbles to put in the chicks water bowl so they didn't drown. She couldn't find any, so substituted little plastic teddies normally used for counting activities.

Thanks for all your responses. I'm not looking at this because I expect long holidays - just thought that's why other people might be keen. What interests me is the variety, being part of a school community and feeling that you can make a positive contribution rather than being increasingly faceless in a large private-sector company. It's the less financial aspects that interest me most.I want to save chicks too!! For those who know about these things, another question - is there any overlap between the primary and secondary sectors - do some people start out in a smaller primary and 'work their way up', or like teaching, do they have completely separate career paths? Your advice is much appreciated!