Westminster School - Music Secretary (Maternity Cover)

South West London
Westminster School
Full-time | Temporary

Summary

We are currently seeking to fill the position of Music Secretary (Maternity Cover).

Detail

Required for: June 2025

Location: Dean's Yard - Westminster School

Hours of work: 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday during term time (35 weeks per year). The Music Secretary will additionally be required to attend large-scale concerts / events, involving evening hours, most likely in the capacity of front of house. In addition, the Music Secretary will be required to work an additional six days in total (usually one day before and one day after each of the three terms).

Salary: £24,377.26 (actual) based on an FTE of £31,545 per annum.

The deadline for applications in midday on Wednesday 21 May 2025. Interviews will take place, in-person, on the 4 June 2025.

We are currently recruiting a Music Secretary at Westminster School to cover a period of maternity leave.

The Music Secretary is responsible for overseeing the smooth running of the weekly schedule of all ensembles / groups, and the internal organisation of the department’s concerts, working with both staff and pupils to raise the profile of co-curricular music making at the School.

Excellent organisational, communication skills and the ability to work within a team are essential.

This is a time-term only role to assist with the efficient running of the Music Department in and around the Manoukian Music Centre (MMC).

Music plays an integral part of life at Westminster, where pupils are encouraged to learn and participate as fully as possible in a weekly routine of rehearsals, recitals and concerts.

Many internationally renowned musicians have been educated at the school including Adrian Boult, Alexander Shelley, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Clemency Burton-Hill, Dido Armstrong, Gavin Rossdale, George Benjamin, Grace Chatto, Henry Purcell, Ian Bostridge, Julian Anderson, Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, Mika Penniman, and Roger Norrington.

Up to twelve Music Scholarships are awarded each year. Academic music standards are extremely high, with a good proportion of music students going on to read music at University or Music College.

Line managed by the Music Department Manager, they will:

• Provide the Music Department Manager with general administrative support e.g. disseminating information to Visiting Music Teachers (VMT’s).

• Manage Manoukian Music Centre (MMC) rooming allocations and the room booking system for all Music Department rehearsals and events, in consultation with the Music Department Manager.

• Coordinate day-to-day allocation of rooms within the Music Department and oversee the foyer’s electronic screen system.

• Take and publish minutes from the weekly departmental meeting.

• Collate the department’s inventories.

• Assist with updating the departmental handbook.

• Update the Junior Colleges List.

• Prepare and disseminate the termly music diary.

• Manage the running of the Music Library.

Visiting Music Teachers (VMT’s)

• Organise VMT parents’ evenings (presently two in the Election Term).

• Manage the VMT report system, checking that all instrumental reports are completed.

Instrumental Ensembles

• Process allocation of pupils to ensembles and ensure the music database is regularly updated.

• Coordinate new pupil meetings for incoming Fifth and Sixth Formers.

• Manage and develop the ensemble section of the database - including the production of termly registers and overseeing the entry of this information onto the database.

• Oversee automated notification system, keeping a record of pupils who miss instrumental lessons / ensembles and emailing those who are absent from ensembles.

• Communicate with wider school staff to deal with problems / clashes as they occur in relation to ensembles.

• Monitor all Music Award holders, including lesson attendance / ensemble participation /solo contributions and checking they are correctly listed on the Music Online system at the start of academic year.

• Ensure the Intranet database has an accurate record of all pupils’ current achievements / standard.

Concerts / Events

• Organise all in-house concerts (e.g. Ensembles, Chamber Music, House, Soloists, Concerto, Masterclasses, Leavers’, Summer)

• Produce publicity and programmes for in-house concerts / events, as well as Sinfonia Smith Square, Royal Festival Hall, and the Barbican, with the help of the Music Coordinator.

• Organise pupil-related logistics for all large-scale concerts and events.

• Assist the Music Department Manager with the organisation of ticketing for events.

• Organise and administer Westminster entries for the Pro Corda National Chamber Music Festival and similar events.

• Attend at least seven large concerts / events per year, as agreed in advance, often in capacity of front of house (e.g. Sir Adrian Boult, St John’s Smith Square, Barbican, two x Ensembles, Leavers’, Summer)

ABRSM

• Organise ABRSM (practical and theory) examinations, collating entrant information from the VMTs and obtaining parent/guardian permission for exam entrants.

• Organise the associated aural classes.

• Steward the exams.

• Update the online system with the results.

Westminster Choral Society

• Oversee liaison with The Westminster Choral Society.

• Organise the WCS application process, issuing invitations and confirming placements.

• Manage the rehearsal schedule, register weekly attendance on the database, order choral music and organise logistics including the seating plan for WCS for the yearly concert.

This Job description is not exhaustive, and the Music Secretary may from time to time, be required to take on additional tasks that are suitable to the role.