Salary - Up to £68,000* | Full-Time
'Pupils flourish at this school. They are immensely proud of their school and its history. Pupils are consistently polite and respectful. Their conduct reflects leaders high standards. Pupils feel safe and happy at school. Teachers deal with any incidents of bullying swiftly and effectively.
Leaders have very high expectations of pupils academic achievement . Pupils experience an ambitious curriculum that is successfully designed to build a deep and secure body of knowledge over time They are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in their education.'
Ofsted 2022, The Blue Coat CE School.
'Leaders, governors and trustees are aspirational for all pupils, including students in
the sixth form. Leaders have thought meticulously about the curriculum from Year 7
to Year 13. They are committed to ensuring that pupils leave school with the
qualifications that they need to succeed. Almost all pupils follow the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects.'
Ofsted 2022, The Blue Coat CE School.
We are excited to announce an opportunity for an exceptional School Business professional, with the right blend of skills, talents, experience, and values to become the Business Manager of The Blue Coat CE School, a high-performing, 'Outstanding' 11-18 Comprehensive School in Oldham, Greater Manchester. We are a large and successful school, with more than 1,700 students from diverse faiths, cultures and backgrounds. We are consistently the highest attaining state secondary school in Oldham and amongst the highest in the country.
We provide a happy place to work and to learn. Our staff pride themselves on respectful relationships with students, and each other, and are committed to the best welfare and interests of all. We have a strong and supportive ethos, working hard so that every student becomes everything they can be and are meant to be.
As Business Manager, the successful applicant will have far reaching influence in how we support our young people and we are looking for an exceptional candidate who puts student welfare and progress at the heart of everything they do.
Blue Coat’s Business Manager is an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team and also part of the Deputy Head strategic group, driving constant improvement in partnership with senior colleagues. The ideal candidate is someone who communicates clearly and confidently and who proactively seeks potential for positive change in both people and process, whilst modelling the values of the school and the trust.
A key responsibility of this role is to ensure that the business and student support operations of Blue Coat are aligned across the organisation. This includes finance, administration, HR, IT, data, exams, estate and facilities, student services and library. All of these functions are delivered by experienced teams and it is the role of the Business Manager to lead and direct them. We are fortunate to have committed, hardworking colleagues and we foster a culture of transparency, honesty and integrity. The Business Manager is supported by a Deputy Business Manager who also helps ensure the smooth running of all non-teaching functions. Achieving efficiencies and continual improvement is nonetheless an ongoing challenge, alongside the need to ensure that staff have the training and development opportunities to enable them to keep up with a fast-paced and demanding environment.
The deadline for applications is 10am on Monday 2nd December 2024.
Shortlisting will be later during the week..
Interview and selection will be during week beginning 9th December 2024.
We would like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible, but we realise that notice periods can be variable, and we are prepared to discuss the best start date for the right candidate.
The Blue Coat School is made up of an array of stand-alone buildings, including a Grade II listed building, all situated on a steeply sloping site. Some of our buildings are new and in good condition; others less so, and capital projects are a key part of this role, with large scale works being delivered under the guidance and support of the trust’s Director of Estates and the CFO, as well as a trusted team of construction industry specialists. A crucial part of the Business Manager’s responsibilities is to ensure that educational provision has no or minimal interruption whilst repairs and site development is in progress.
Full details of the responsibilities are in the job description, and include:
• Strategic leadership of all support functions
• Overseeing works relating to premises, estates and logistics
• Responsibility for setting and monitoring the annual budget within trust policy and procedure
• Accountability for Blue Coat’s Single Central Record and implementation of the Safeguarding Policy in relation to support staff, visitors and contractors
• Leading on the policy schedule
• Overseeing admissions policies and procedures for both main school and sixth form
• GDPR management, in line with Trust policy
*Salary will be between £59,000 and £68,000 depending upon the successful candidate's experience and current remuneration.
**A Relocation bonus compliant with Inland Revenue guidelines is available if a house move is necessary for the successful candidate to take up the role.
'Subject leaders are passionate about all pupils developing ‘powerful knowledge’. They have carefully organised their curriculums to make sure that teachers are clear about what pupils need to learn and when this knowledge should be taught. Subject leaders have ensured that there are many opportunities for pupils to revisit their prior learning. This means that pupils develop rich subject knowledge.'
Ofsted 2022, The Blue Coat CE School.
'I had worked in Finance before but not for a couple of years and I was pleased to get back into a finance role. I like managing and monitoring budgets and ensuring they are accurate. I enjoy a balance of regular routines and variety within my role. I look after the monthly payroll for Blue Coat and find this element of the role very satisfying. I hadn't worked in payroll before working here and have learnt new skills to do this. My role requires me to work with lots of people: teachers throughout the school, support staff and students. I really like working with different people for the varied elements of the role.'
What is it like? Trust Payroll Officer describing her job in the Cranmer CE Trust
'The vision and values of the Trust match up with my own; helping young people become everything they can be, and everything they are meant to be. These core values of the CET make me proud to work here due to the impact you can make with the students.
The pupils are the reason you come to work in the morning. It's a cliché, but everyday is different. It's what makes it interesting. It's a privilege to work within a Trust that has impacted on the future of so many young people and will continue to for years to come. The Cranmer Education Trust and Blue Coat School have always created pathways for progression from all stages in my career development.'
What is it like? Director of Learning describing his job in the Cranmer CE Trust
The Cranmer Education Trust was founded in 2011 with a mission to be a leader of education and a provider of excellent, nurturing schools, enabling all children and young people to achieve, progress, experience success, and to become good people, good neighbours and good citizens, who we are all proud to know.
Blue Coat is proud to be part of the Cranmer Education Trust which, from April 2025, will include 10 schools across Oldham and Rochdale - 5 secondary and 5 primary - and by which time will be educating more than 8,000 young people, employing more than 900 staff, and will have a revenue exceeding £80m. The trust continues to grow and by 2029, plans to have increased to 11,000 pupils. Being a part of such a strong trust allows colleagues from across Blue Coat to build valuable support networks, access wider learning opportunities and means that we benefit from capital investment we would not otherwise be able to access.
The trust’s business frameworks are underpinned by the true spirit of collaboration and enable the harmonisation of work at trust and school level. Regular network meetings empower people to work within clear and supportive systems. Most of Blue Coat’s business functions are carried out within Blue Coat itself, but this doesn’t mean the role of the Business Manager is isolated, in fact quite the opposite. Our networks allow business leaders from across our family of schools to meet and share good practice, making sure we are all on the same page in terms of compliance, and building a strong professional community.
As the executive directors for the legal entity and employer, Cranmer’s central team sets the direction, policy and frameworks under which Blue Coat operates. Financial policy and procedure is set centrally and Blue Coat has its own budget, budgeting software, bank account, accounting system, and payroll sign-off. Similarly, HR policy and procedure are set centrally, having an experienced and qualified central team with efficient systems and processes. These then cascade to HR and finance teams within Blue Coat, which, led by the Business Manager, work under these parameters, with support from colleagues across our family of schools.
Blue Coat has a strong IT team which supports functions, infrastructure and events. The trust’s IT Director and Infrastructure Lead are also both based on the Blue Coat site, providing additional leadership, strategy, advice and assurance. All of the trust’s IT teams are within a 15-minute drive of each other, aiding networking and ensuring we provide schools with robust levels of support and confidence at all times.
Being the Business Manager of a large, successful school is demanding but is a wonderful job. Most Business Managers of single institutions know that sense of being slightly isolated: the job is different to other school roles, the challenges and pinch points are different, and you don’t always have people around you who fully understand your role. The benefit of being the Business Manager within the Cranmer Education Trust is that no-one is on their own and this, alongside our distributed leadership philosophy, allows growth and personal development to flourish.
Full details of of how to apply for the role and other documentation can be found in the Candidate Application Pack which you can download by CLICKING HERE.
The following steps and deadlines will ensure you make a great application, and submit it properly within the timescale required
If you get your application pack now, we'll keep you informed and remind you of the deadline.
Want to talk?
This is a fantastic opportunity for any School Business Manager or Bursar, or for those who are in a deputy position to step up to the full role.
'Pupils manage their own behaviour exceptionally well, which means that their learning is rarely disrupted. Students in the sixth form behave impeccably. They are independent and highly studious. Pupils and students have positive attitudes towards their learning which are reflected in their high attendance.'
Ofsted 2022, The Blue Coat CE School.
