Hampton Court House - Bursar

Hampton Court House - Bursar

Bursar Candidate Pack

Contents

Hampton Court House School

Welcome from the Founder

Our Values

The Role

Person Specification

Application Process

Hampton Court House is an independent, co-educational, ‘all-through’ school educating children from Nursery (three-year-olds) to Year 13 (18-year-olds). Situated in its own private parkland on the edge of Bushy Park, the pupils take full advantage of the sprawling surroundings and grand architecture. Class sizes are small but the school is academically rigorous with all students prepared for 13+ Common Entrance and/or scholarship examinations to the leading boys’ and girls’ schools. That said, most children elect to stay on to take their GCSEs and A-levels at Hampton Court House and such has been the demand for places that a sixth form opened in September 2015. With a distinct focus on linguistics and the advantages of a broad curriculum, the school has also been recognised for its innovative approach to the senior years and their pioneering of a ‘later start’ to better accommodate adolescent routines. In fact, such has been the success of Hampton Court House’s traditional yet forward thinking ethos that the school was recently acknowledged by the Times Education Supplement and shortlisted for Senior School of the Year.

“In 2015, I founded Dukes Education. The beginning of the Dukes story is simple. I wanted to do something I love, and I love developing young people. I’ve been inspired by many individuals throughout my involvement in finance, the military and sport. Growing up with dyslexia meant I had to find my own way to succeed – but the encouragement and support of my family and school was crucial. I wanted to give others the chance to be successful against the odds and in the face of obstacles.

On every publication, email or letter from Dukes Education, you will see a small crown next to our name. When Dukes began, we decided to use a sign that expressed everything we wanted the company to be. The Dukes crown symbolises our ambition to be at the absolute top of the education sector – a mark of recognised quality. It also symbolises the ambition of our students and parents. They come to us for schooling, guidance and expertise because, in their own way, they want to build a ‘crown’ of achievement themselves. Our mission is to be the best at helping them to do this. Everything we do at Dukes is driven by a strong desire to nurture young people so they can achieve their true potential. I am so excited for our future. We are in a privileged position: we have a unique opportunity to create dreams and inspire excellence in our students. Only time will tell what lies ahead but we will continue to evolve and have fun while we create and inspire!

Welcome to Dukes Education.”

Aatif Hassan

Founded in 2015, Dukes Education is a collection of the UK’s finest nurseries, schools and colleges, as well as summer schools and consultancy services — all united in their passion for nurturing students and helping them thrive. We are highly selective about which schools and organisations join us. Our family is small and close knit, which we carefully curate to ensure there is harmony amongst our teams. Being part of the Dukes family means we can all come together to share experience and expertise, supporting each other to achieve the extraordinary. There’s power in the collective, our results are outstanding, but there’s more to us than that. Our students benefit from constant sharing of best practice; developing culturally and socially, whilst enjoying a rounded education.

Our values are the common thread that weaves through our family. They help us to steer through the daily chaos of the classroom and stick to what’s important. All our students, teachers, and parents are different, but sharing these values binds us together and makes us stronger.

We lead with heart.

We’re a team.

We do it well.

We love learning.

The Bursar’s role is wide ranging and whilst the primary focus will be to provide effective management of the financial and information systems at the school, the Bursar will also be responsible for effectively managing the school’s operational functions including administration, purchasing, IT, HR, maintenance, caretaking, cleaning and catering.

As an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the Bursar will be expected to collaborate with the Head and the broader Dukes Education group to shape and implement the school’s strategic plans.

The key responsibilities are as follows:

Finance

• Maintaining a fixed asset register and calculating and posting depreciation charges;

• Overall financial management of the school to include, but not limited to; • Keeping the accounts of the school and preparing monthly financial statements; profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, budget variance reports and brief commentary; • Monitoring income and expenditure in relation to budget and presenting regular management eports to the Senior Leadership Team and Board;

• Creating and maintaining sound financial systems and processes across the school, liaising with the Dukes Group FD/CFO to ensure consistency in approach; • Preparing annual forecasts of income and expenditure to include the preparation of departmental budgets across the school, the latter in consultation with the Heads and Senior Leadership Team;

• Ensuring any grant funding is correctly reflected in the accounts and fee invoicing;

• Being/becoming an expert user in Xero;

• Preparing forecasts for the future financial performance of the school; • Preparing financial appraisals of particular projects; • Advising on scholarship and bursary funds in conjunction with external assessors.

• Liaison with auditors and providing information at year end as required;

• Working with the Registrar and Senior Leadership Team to determine pupil numbers and make-up; • Preparing pupil fees and collecting all fees and extras, including the monitoring and collection of outstanding debts and enforcing terms and conditions of registration;

• Payment of all supplies and expenses, and ensuring statements are reconciled;

• Payment of all salaries and wages, (through payroll bureau) including PAYE, Pension and National Insurance Contributions and compliance with regulations for benefits in kind;

• Administering pension schemes through payroll bureau;

• Scrutinising and passing for payment all invoices received by the school;

HR and Compliance

• Ensuring appropriate risk assessments are being undertaken and acted upon as necessary;

• Ensuring that all relevant staff have contracts of employment; • Managing and ensuring compliance with all relevant aspects of employment law including employment protection, equal pay, minimum wage, Working Time Directive or discrimination on the grounds of sex, race or disability; terms and conditions of service, supervision and welfare of all staff to ensure this is aligned with the wider Dukes group; • Consulting with the Head to review annual salaries for staff and submit proposals to Excom;

• Acting as correspondent with the Department for Education (DfE) and being responsible for the records and returns required; • Advising on, and taking the appropriate physical security measures across the school for the protection of both staff and pupils; • Maintaining contact with the statutory authorities and other organisations.

• Ensuring that the school follows appropriate disciplinary and grievance procedures;

• Managing contracts with agency staff and contractors, with terms and conditions that ensure compliance with safeguarding policies and IR35 compliance; • Monitoring and implementing the school’s policies and compliance with the requirements of health and safety legislation;

School Buildings

General Management and Administration

• Alongside the school’s Maintenance Manager; maintaining all of the school buildings including the preparation of maintenance schedules and the keeping of records; • Managing the installation and maintenance of equipment for the detection, warning, protection and escape from fire ensuring the necessary fire risk assessments are carried out; • Maintenance and efficiency of the installations and plant for electric and gas supply, heating, domestic hot water, water softening etc.

• Managing the catering contract from the school’s perspective;

• Purchasing all goods and services for the school;

• Managing the school’s cleaning contract;

• Overseeing the management of uniform sales and liaison with PTA; • Management of the IT provision across the school in conjunction with various IT / Software support providers;

• Promotion of energy conservation;

• Ensuring cost effective provision for buses is in place and meets the requirements of the school;

• Ensuring that catering areas meet the requirements for hygiene and food safety; • Drawing up outline specifications for new buildings, obtaining tenders, planning permission, liaison with school architects and builders; • Overseeing capital expenditure projects for the school.

• In consultation with SLT, implementing and reviewing the school’s annual improvement plan.

Professional Standards

• Supporting the aims and ethos of the school and carry out the school’s strategic plan;

• Treating all members of the school community with respect and consideration;

• Treating all pupils fairly, consistently and without prejudice; • Being a key member of the SLT, attending departmental and staff meetings and Parents’ Evenings as required;

• Ensuring that all deadlines are met as published in the school calendar;

• Undertaking duties that may be reasonably assigned by the Head and Finance Director/CFO.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to liaise confidently with contractors, academic and support staff, visitors and the general public. • A willingness to be adaptable, flexible and to work unsociable hours as sometimes required for the job. • Demonstrable leadership abilities, with a good eye for detail, and the ability to prioritise, motivate and delegate to staff. • A positive “can do” attitude, with the ability to analyse and evaluate complex issues and provide appropriate solutions.

• A minimum of a degree level qualification (or equivalent), ideally with a professional qualification in finance, management or property. • Business experience with the knowledge of commercial and allied subjects adequate for the management of the day-to-day affairs of the school. • A proven track record of successfully leading, developing and managing people, with first class communication skills, interpersonal and dispute resolution skills, and experience and knowledge of project management.

• Proven ability to maintain tight financial control on operational programmes.

• Experience of working in an educational setting desirable but not essential.

• Evidence of an understanding and commitment to Health & Safety.

• Ability to work unsupervised, use own initiative and manage own time.

Dukes Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Applications should consist of a CV and covering statement outlining key matching experience and rationale for applying for the post.

Applications should be sent to our recruitment advisor at The Management Recruitment Group:

Hayley Mintern T: 0208 892 0115

M: 07530 680 184

E: [email protected]

Applications will be reviewed and The Management Recruitment Group will undertake preliminary meetings with selected candidates.