At times, you may have to coordinate the work of a small group of other office employees in your role as school secretary. Since you will be in the main office, you will be the first person to greet all visitors to the school, whether they are district employees, invited guests, parents or students. In larger centers, schools may have a policy of checking on students who are absent and there has not been any notification from the parents. When teachers take attendance in the morning, your duty will be to make telephone calls to parents to find out why the child is not in school.
Scheduling appointments is another part of the job of school secretary. This can be appointments for parents to meet with teachers or with the administration. Admitting new students to the school means that there are forms that must be processed. When students leave the school, you will be responsible for ensuring that you send the school records to the appropriate new school after you receive the formal request. Photocopying materials for distribution to the school staff, such as class timetables or timetables for supervisory duties, is also a responsibility you have once these documents have been prepared by the administration.
Handling the school budget in consultation with the administration also falls under the realm of the work of the school secretary. You will be responsible for paying for supplies and other expenses, such as travel for field and for documenting them through the use of accounting software. You should be proficient in typing, in the use of various computer programs and know how to operate the equipment typically found in a school office. It may also be your responsibility for making the travel arrangements for field trips as well as scheduling the times for these events. You should have excellent written and oral communication skills and be knowledgeable of the rules of written English. Excellent interpersonal skills are essential to form good working relationships with the staff, students and parents. Since you will be dealing with private information about the students and their home lives, you will have to keep this information confidential, especially if you are also a parent of a student in the school.
A school secretary should have a high school diploma as well as a college course in bookkeeping or office administration skills. These courses usually have a work term component in which you will work in a school office with the secretary for a period of time.
