Prep School Secretary (maternity cover)

Package Description

Benefits

This is a maternity cover position from January 2025 to 16^th December 2025 working during term time 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday (8 am to 4 pm, with a one-hour unpaid lunch break).   Term times can be found here: https://www.fettes.com/term-dates-prep

Salary: around £21,000 per annum

Benefits include:        

• Parking within the campus grounds. The campus is easily accessed by car and bus.
• Membership of Westwoods gym and health club which offers a range of excellent fitness and leisure facilities including a 25m swimming pool.
• Free lunchtime meals during term time, and at other times when catering is provided, and you are on duty.
• Life insurance scheme (3x salary).
• Excellent Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Benefits portal with extensive discounts section, as well as healthcare, dental plan cover, etc.
• You will be opted into the Fettes College Pension Plan after 3 months service. This scheme is a money purchase one, operating as a salary exchange plan. The College will contribute to the scheme a minimum of 8% and you will contribute a minimum of 2% employee. Fettes operate a contribution matching scheme up to 12% of base salary.

The Role

Fettes Preparatory School are seeking to hire a customer-focused School Secretary (maternity cover) to be the face of the Prep School, providing a warm welcome for pupils, parents and visitors.

Main Responsibilities

Please see the full Job Description for duties and responsibilities for this role.

The Ideal Candidate

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Our people are at the core of everything we do, and part of our vision is for Fettes to be the school of choice for students, parents and staff.

Experience

• Excellent organisational and planning skills with strong attention to detail;
• Ability to work independently but also to work well with colleagues;
• Motivated and can take the initiative to manage tasks;
• First rate business writing skills and good inter-personal skills;
• IT literate across a broad range of common Microsoft applications specifically Outlook, Word and Excel and, ideally, experience and confidence in the use of databases.

Personal Qualities

• Approachable and open manner for daily interaction with Pupils, Parents and Staff;
• Enthusiastic and willing to involve oneself in the life of the school;
• Confidentiality, discretion, diplomacy and integrity;
• Smart and professional in presentation.

About the school/organisation

ABOUT FETTES

Fettes College is a leading HMC co-educational boarding and day school close to the heart of Edinburgh.  It has a strong tradition of academic, sporting and cultural excellence underpinned by outstanding pastoral care.  Fettes opened its doors in 1870 and became fully co-educational in 1980: it is now an independent school of some 785 students. There are 594 students in the Senior School (13-18 years) and 191 students in the Preparatory School (7-13 years). Fettes follows the English curriculum of GCSEs, and the dual pathway of A Levels and IB. Our full-boarding ethos ensures weekends are vibrant and fun.

The academic staff in the Senior School consists of the Head and 91 full-time members of the Common Room. Our Prep School shares the same site and consists of a further 29 full-time teaching staff. Fettes is a collaborative community in which every member is working towards fully realising their potential whilst supporting those around them. 

The school stands on a stunning and secure 100-acre site, but still within walking distance of Edinburgh’s city centre. The historic main building holds the Chapel, Library, the English, Classics and History Departments as well as the Medical Centre and two boarding houses. A large purpose-built teaching block (the Spens Building) houses Art, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Economics, Geography and Music. The Theatre, Science Laboratories and Dining Hall are adjacent. The Preparatory School and seven further boarding houses (including a purpose-built co-educational U6th House) are also on the campus. Our sports facilities (including extensive playing fields, two all-weather pitches and a private Health Club) are excellent. 

We have a commitment to build even more ground-breaking facilities, including a Wellbeing Centre and construction of new Science and Innovation buildings.

As well as our teaching staff we employ over 220 Operational Staff across the many departments, including Estates, Security, Housekeeping, Finance, Admissions and Marketing with a pervading sense of community amongst staff, students and parents alike. 

OUR VISION

We have created and developed a bold new vision for Fettes, one which focuses on what we believe Fettesians should aspire to be, the skills they will need in life and the impact we want them to make in the world.

We have called this vision Fettes Moving Forward: A place to live. A place to learn. A place to grow. You can find out more about the vision - and how it shapes and informs Fettes' future at www.fettes.com/vision 

Please also watch (with sound on) our film below - Ode to Place - which complements the vision and captures the ethos of Fettes College and what a Fettes education means. 

THE AIMS OF THE COLLEGE 

Fettes College will ensure that our students:

• Feel valued and respected as individuals

• Receive the highest possible quality of education, engaging them in rigorous and relevant opportunities in a dynamic curriculum that creates lifelong learners

• Feel safe, have a sense of personal worth, are thoughtful and considerate of the needs of others, while possessing a willingness to take on responsibility

• Are encouraged to stretch and challenge themselves

• Develop a sense of self-confidence, integrity, emotional resilience, loyalty, good manners, leadership skills and teamwork

• Value a sense of community

• Are surrounded by inspirational caring staff

• Feel represented and are provided with equal opportunities regardless of gender, identity, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or religion. 

“Our Students will leave the school knowing themselves, looking out for others, capable of thinking critically and ready to make a positive mark on their rapidly changing world. They will be bold and visionary yet compassionate; they will possess a global perspective and be ready to embrace the opportunities of the future” Helen Harrison, Head