Receptionist & Administrator

Odyssey Education Ltd; Wokingham; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A special educational institution in Wokingham seeks a proactive receptionist to manage the front desk and support the leadership team. The successful candidate should have excellent communication skills and a commitment to safeguarding children. Responsibilities include managing visitor logs, handling school communications, and assisting with administrative tasks in a supportive environment aimed at providing high-quality education. This role offers the opportunity to work in a newly renovated facility with a focus on student well-being.

Benefits

Cycle to Work scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Onsite Parking

Qualifications

• Experience working with children, especially in a school setting.
• Ability to multitask and manage time effectively.
• Strong commitment to safeguarding and promoting welfare.

Responsibilities

• Manage front reception desk and first contact for visitors.
• Support school leadership team in smooth operations.
• Assist in managing registers and school communications.

Skills

Organisational skills

Excellent communication

Customer service

Education

Working knowledge of school environment (desirable)

Tools

School software packages (e.g., SharePoint, ISAMS)

Job description

We are looking for a proactive and friendly receptionist to join our admin team. This role is 52 weeks, 8:30-5pm.

Closing Date: 16 January, 2026

Location: Wokingham

Odyssey House School is an exciting special school setting, aiming to provide the highest quality education to students withadditionalneeds. Our students havea range ofadditionalneeds, primarily high-functioning autism,anxietyand emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). All students follow a differentiated National Curriculum, with the aim of achieving a range of recognised qualifications at Key Stage 4 and 5 including Entry Level, Functional Skills,GCSEsand other Level 2 qualifications.

The school ethos is shaped by our mission:

“To change a child’s experience of education through connection, nurture and belief to help them learn, grown and achieve transformative life outcomes.”

The school’s premises have been designed specifically to meet the needs of neurodiverse children as well as providing an amazing work environment, where staffbenefitfrom excellentfacilities of the highest quality allowingthem to deliverexceptional education.

Staff and studentsbenefitfrom small class sizes,adedicated library, reading booths, student focus areas,asensory room, staff well-beingloungeand work area.

Apply now if you would like tosupport our students in their journey!

What we can offer you

At Odyssey wepride ourselves on developing a creative and supportive environment. In addition to offering a competitive salary, our offer to you includes:

• Newlyrenovatedschools,refurbished to a high standard includingair conditioning and staffwellbeingareasbased in beautiful surroundings
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Staff recognition
• Supportive CPD offers
• Onsite Parking (Wokingham site)

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and require all staff and volunteers to share anddemonstratethis commitment. The successful candidate will have to meet the requirements of the person specification and will be subject to the relevant pre-employment checks which will, where applicable, include a health check, an enhanced DBS check, the Children’s Barred List check and satisfactory references.

It is an offence for an individual who has been disqualified from working with children to knowingly apply for, offer to do, accept, or do any work in a ‘regulated activity’.The post isadvertisedis a ‘regulatedactivity’.

Odysseywill undertake a basic online check for all shortlisted candidates.

Job Purpose

To manage thefront reception desk, being the first point of contact for visitors and telephone calls.

To support theschool leadership team with the smooth running of the school.

To elevatethe brand of Odyssey House School by dealing with prospective and current parentsandstudents.

Specific Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for parents,children and other visitorsand callsto the school
• Full management of reception to include distributing/sorting mail, manage visitorslog book, issuing security badges, escorting visitors, stationery orders, manage petty cash, oversee equipment (photocopier maintenanceetc),healthand safety
• Assistin arrangingand coordinatingschool visits for parents andstudents
• Monitor registers and on a twice daily basis, call families where children are absent and send absence/lateness letters to parents with support from the Headteacher asappropriate
• Establish good relationships with staff, students and thethewider Odysseyfamily
• Assistthe Headteacher toorganiseand coordinate transitiondays
• Maintain the Schools information system withstudent& family details.
• Ensure that all registers are up to date and follow up any unexplainedabsences
• Monitoring school emails and forwarding / answering asappropriate.
• School journey and visit arrangements, including booking transport and accommodation, ensuring risk assessments have been carriedoutandappropriate insuranceis in place.
• Ensurequeriesregardingthe schoolvia telephone or email are actionedimmediatelywhen calls and emails arereceived

General Office Duties

• Assistinmaintainingstudent filesand onlinerecords
• Be aware of Odyssey’s policies and procedures andfollow them at alltimes
• Maintain notice boards, sort and distribute mail andparcels
• Be responsible forthe school’s management information system (MIS)and play a key role in the school recordkeeping
• Liaise with contractors andsuppliers
• Support the SLT inconfidentialadministrativefunctions
• Be responsible forthe emergency evacuation procedures, including sharing information with visitors to the school and newstarters
• Perform premises compliance checks regularly, including fire alarm, watertesting
• Arrange repairs and servicing ofequipment
• Ensure good stocks of office and educational stationery, building supplies and cleaning products, reordering when necessaryand safe storage ofgoods
• Order and provide hospitality services asrequired
• Process admission enquiries and paperwork asrequiredforSLT
• Be first aid trained and be the primary firstaider
• Assistwith any Petty cash and dailybookkeeping
• Raise purchase orders whererequiredand log on the purchase order system,forwardinginvoices to the finance teamfor all resources whenauthorisedby theHeadteacher and Business Director
• Check in goods and return any unwanteditems
• Toassistthe Headteacher in welcoming students to the school, including providing new parentswith all the information (handbooks and any other relevant documentation)
• To keep personal knowledge current and effective byensuring CPD is up todate
• To ensure the reception area and other parts of the school are kept legal, tidy,informativeand welcoming to visitorsat alltimes
• To use all school software packages including SharePoint and ISAMS
• Ensure all visitors havecorrect documentation and are issued a visitor lanyard before accessing the site and record inthe visitorslogbook
• Ensure the daily staff and student attendance log is updated and shared with the Headteacher, Business Director and HR Business Partner
• Attend staff meetings and staff trainingdays
• Demonstrate sensitivity,confidentialityand discretionat alltimes
• Liaise with the Business Administratorand Schools Administrator based in Wokingham to share bestpractice
• Work with the Support Services team and Headteacher toorganiseevents
• Coordinate and distribute theschoolsnewsletter
• Update theschoolswebsite to ensure content is relevant
• Any other taskreasonably requestedby the Executive Team
• Experience working in a school setting or with SEN children (desirable)
• Committed to safeguarding
• Organised
• Able to use initiative

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