Administration Apprentice (Business & Finance)

General Administration

Provide general administrative support to staff and departments across the school.  Act as a point of contact for staff, students, parents, and visitors, dealing with enquiries professionally both in person and by phone or email. Support reception and front office duties, including signing in visitors (ensuring safeguarding processes are followed), answering phones, and handling mail. Prepare and distribute letters, reports, forms, and newsletters using Microsoft Office or Google Workspace. Maintain and update school records (manual and digital), including student data, attendance records, and filing systems. Help with data entry and maintaining the school’s management information system (MIS). Assist with attendance monitoring and reporting. Assist with the organisation of meetings and school events, including booking rooms and taking minutes. Liaise with teaching and support staff to ensure accurate and timely communication and record-keeping.

Finance & Business Support

Assist in processing purchase orders, invoices, and payment requests through the school’s finance system. Liaise with external suppliers and service providers regarding orders, deliveries, and queries. Help monitor income and expenditure for school trips, events, and departmental budgets. Support with petty cash handling, logging of receipts, and basic financial reporting. Assist in maintaining accurate records for stock control and asset management.

Liaison & Communication

Liaise with parents and carers regarding school payments, trips, and general enquiries. Work with external organisations such as suppliers, contractors, and local authorities, ensuring timely and accurate communication. Collaborate with internal departments (e.g. pastoral, curriculum, site staff) to support administrative and operational needs.

Compliance & Policies

Ensure compliance with school policies, particularly in relation to data protection, confidentiality, safeguarding, and health and safety. Handle sensitive information appropriately and in line with GDPR regulation Work co-operatively with, and in support of everyone at the school (including the work of other team members) by undertaking such additional duties as are reasonably commensurate with the post and level of responsibility. Review and develop own professional practice, undertaking training as required Develop good working relations with other colleagues and promote a positive impression of the support services in all circumstances, identifying areas for improvement. Help foster a positive culture by upholding the vision and aims of the school. Have due regard for data protection, confidentiality, child protection and health and safety policies. Work with pupils and staff in a courteous, caring and responsible manner. Work with visitors in such a way that it enhances the reputation of the school. Support the school in helping to prepare for external inspections (e.g. OFSTED).    Help protect the school environment by making sure working areas (including shared areas, stockrooms and workstations) are tidy, clutter free and safe to use. As a user of the school’s network, you must comply with the school’s IT policy and social media policy and understand that the school may monitor your emails and internet activity. Requests to take time in lieu during term time will be treated on an individual basis and must fit with the needs of the school.

Training:

Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship Standard St Peter’s Catholic High School.

Training Outcome:

Permanent Role: If you perform well and there’s a vacancy, you may be offered a full-time admin assistant or finance/admin officer role.

Further Training: You could move on to a Level 3 or 4 apprenticeship in:

Business Administration School Business Management Finance or Accounting (e.g. AAT)

Transferable Experience: Even if there’s no role at the school, you’ll have gained:

Valuable admin experience A recognised qualification

Strong references to help you apply elsewhere

Employer Description:
St. Peter’s is a successful and oversubscribed 11-16 Catholic Secondary School of approximately 1040 pupils. We primarily serve the children of our partner parishes across a wide area in Wigan, Lancashire and St. Helens. We pride ourselves on living out our mission statement to be a ‘Learning and serving community enriched through friendship and Christian faith.’ We are committed to both high standards of learning and personal conduct and to being a warm inclusive school where every child can succeed.   The vast majority of our pupils achieve expected or above expected standards at the end of KS2 and this leads to challenging targets at GCSE level. Through our clear expectations and nurturing environment, we create a calm focused learning environment where teachers can teach and the needs of all of our pupils can be met.  The curriculum offer at St. Peter’s is a wide and varied one with a very strong academic core and a diverse offer of Arts, Technical and practical courses. I would encourage you to explore this offer on the school website.    Our staff team is a strong mix of very experienced and more recently qualified colleagues and they are very well supported at all levels by our Professional Development Programme. Staff wellbeing is at the heart of our philosophy and we have embraced a number of strategies to promote this including staff wellbeing cafes, wellbeing buddies and the opportunity to work from home where practicable. Staff Development is supported

Working Hours :
Term-time only. Working times are flexible, but generally 8:30am -3:30pm Mondays to Thursdays and 8:30am-3:00pm on Fridays with a 30-minute unpaid lunch. Working from home is allowable for some of this time, but it must meet the needs of the school.

Skills:
Communication skills,IT skills,Attention to detail,Organisation skills,Customer care skills,Problem solving skills,Administrative skills,Number skills,Team working,Non judgemental,Patience,Respect for the Catholic Ethos,Character and Personal Conduct,Adaptability