ESTATES BURSAR CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK
WELCOME FROM THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
DEAR CANDIDATE,
I am delighted that you have shown an interest in this new role which is being set up at a pivotal moment for our organisation. Worth is a unique place that provides first-rate education alongside 1500 years of Benedictine tradition. Our values provide a firm foundation for all we do at Worth; humility, silence, worship, community, stewardship and service. The Worth Abbey estate is spread over 500 acres of beautiful Sussex countryside and is varied in its architectural and operational uses. It includes listed 19th century buildings which are now used as boarding houses and reception rooms, a 20th century listed church building and our newest building, a £6.25m Sixth Form Centre and Library. It also consists of school buildings, religious buildings, farm buildings and domestic buildings while the grounds include ornamental lawns, a small golf course, woodland and extensive playing fields. Working closely with the School, Abbey and commercial operations on the site, you will lead the development, maintenance and daily services of the site. This is a hugely exciting time to be joining Worth; the school has recently had a £50m masterplan largely approved by the local planners and is now moving into delivering some capital projects. The Abbey is working to develop its masterplan. We are committed to sustainability at Worth and have recently implemented a £2.3m biomass energy centre for our heating and hot water and are looking to develop our electricity generation options on site. Part of your role will be to champion this sustainability agenda. To succeed you will need to be ambitious for yourself and the site and able to work flexibly with the Monastic community, non-executive governors and advisers, and the school leadership team.
I very much look forward to welcoming you to Worth.
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OVERVIEW
Since 1933 the Worth Abbey site has been home to a community of Roman Catholic monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict. Their regular worship provides the heartbeat to life at Worth and their commitment to ‘welcome the stranger with the love of Christ’ has made the Abbey a place that attracts people from far and wide. The site is also home to a wide range of activities that have their roots in the work of the monastic community, including an independent school, Worth parish, a retreat centre, social action at home and abroad, a farm and livery, and a lettings/facilities hire programme.
The Worth estate comprises some 500 acres of beautiful countryside between London and Brighton, and just 15 minutes from Gatwick Airport. It is set on a ridge of the High Weald with stunning views towards the South Downs. The variety of buildings and grounds is impressive, being based around the original Victorian mansion that now houses some offices and boys’ boarding houses. In terms of building stock, there is everything from a state-of-the- art Sixth Form Centre to a Victorian barn that was converted into the arts centre, as wel as staff accommodation. The Abbey Church lies physically and metaphorically at the heart of the campus and is a Grade 2 listed building, designed by Francis Pollen.
The grounds also include:
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Eight-hole golf course Floodlit astropitch Tennis/netball courts
9 rugby pitches
3 cricket pitches (and two cricket pavilions)
Forest school area
Woods
Quiet garden with pond
Small pinetum
Monks’ graveyard Large public car park
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Livery stables
ECO WORTH
WILDLIFE The natural blessings of the Worth site include its wildlife. There are a range of birds including Canada geese, kits and a goshawk that are regular visitors, a herd of deer and other toads, frogs and the like. There are also various protections in specific places for bats and dormice.
Worth is pushing forward with its eco credentials. Concern for the environment is spurred on by pupil enthusiasm; the Head Boy and Head Girl lead the Common Home Committee which is a group of pupils and staff who explore and put forward practical solutions. Recent years have seen the introduction of better recycling, a reduction of single use plastic and ongoing discussions regarding the source and impact of our food.
ABBEY/MONASTIC COMMUNITY Worth Abbey is a community of some 20 Roman Catholic
SCHOOL Worth is known for offering education with heart and soul. We are a friendly school with academic ambition, increasingly over-subscribed to join our community of 640 boys and girls aged from 11 to 18. Worth offers GCSE/iGCSE, pre-IB in Year 11, A Levels or IB in Sixth Form, all taught by inspirational teachers. Pastoral care is outstanding and the co-curricular programme is packed with over 132 activities on offer. The School welcomes pupils of all faiths and none.
Benedictine monks, dedicated to truly seeking God and following the guidance of the Rule of St Benedict. Monks seek to live out the Gospel not as isolated individuals (modern individualism is foreign to Benedict’s way of thinking), but as members of a community.
SITE DEVELOPMENTS A new-build facility, the Spencer building, was opened at the start of the Summer Term 2022. The building offers a new school library, Sixth Form Centre with classrooms and offices for staff as well as a student common room, and a large multi-purpose space. The building has been made possible by a generous gift from alumnus Baron Spencer of Alresford. A new Biomass plant which provides heat and hot water to the School went live in October last year. Not only has it given good, reliable heating and plenty of hot water, it has also meant that we haven’t used a single drop of heating oil over the winter. Major projects for Summer 2022 include work on the Church roof and the transformation of the top floor of the teaching block classrooms and new IT Suite. There is also a range of maintenance work underway around the site. Longer term, next on the list for School development will be a new sports complex and then a new STEM centre.
SCHOOL ETHOS
The School has six values which we live by:
Community – choose community
Humility – celebrate others
Stewardship – leave it better than you found it
Silence – listen more than you talk
Worship – have an attitude of gratitude
Service – serve your heart out
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HISTORY In the early 1930s, Abbot John Chapman of St Gregory’s, Downside in Somerset, was looking for more adequate buildings to which to move his Junior schools. Some 30 locations were examined before deciding on a large country house called Paddockhurst. The house was formerly owned by the late Lord Cowdray who had died in 1927. The monks established a prep school in 1933. During the WWII the School evacuated to Somerset and the Worth Estate was taken over by Canadian troops. For the latter stages of the War, Worth Abbey was a significant location for intelligence gathering and planning ahead of the Normandy landings as the Allied Forces sought a conclusion to the conflict. In April 1944 the 8th Corps, under the command of General Sir Richard O’Connor, was moved from its headquarters in Yorkshire to Sussex to plan for the invasion of D-Day, which took place on 6th June 1944. It was during this time that both Montgomery and Eisenhower visited Worth. In 1957 Worth Abbey became independent from Downside and two years later in 1959 the Senior School was founded. In the 1990s Worth became the first English Benedictine school to take both boarding and day pupils, and the important transition to co- education began in 2008, with the first boarding and day girls accepted into the Sixth Form. Girls were welcomed into the lower years in 2010 and by September 2012 the School was fully co-educational in all years. The School has had a lay head since 2002 with the Abbot being President of the Board of Governors. Selected members of the monastic community also serve as Governors or as House Chaplains.
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JOB DESCRIPTION ESTATES BURSAR ROLE SUMMARY Reports to: Chief Operating Officer Direct Reports : Head of Services, Maintenance Manager, Grounds Manager and Administrative Support
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
• Maintain an optimum balance between the size of the in-house teams and contractor resources to minimise the overall cost of the estate function to the Worth Group. • Champion value-for-money across estate functions working closely with the Purchasing Manager. • At all times operate within agreed budgets and make recommendations to optimise pay, non-pay, improvement and capital budgets. COMPLIANCE • Lead for the Worth Group on compliance with safeguarding requirements that surround allowing contractors access to site. • Be accountable for safeguarding compliance across the estate functions. • Champion health and safety across the estate functions working closely with the Compliance and Risk Manager. • At all times work closely with the Assurance Director to ensure that activities are in-line with the group’s risk appetite and that a central database of SLA and project performance exists. • To be responsible for and able to evidence own personal development by undertaking relevant training, attending meetings, conferences and events ensuring that you are updated in all matters relevant to the role as agreed in Personal Development Plan. • To carry out additional duties and tasks that may be required within the range of the responsibilities of the post.
The principal roles of the Estates Bursar are:
• Work with the Chief Operating Officer, Head Master, Abbot, Governors and Trustees to produce and implement an overall estate strategy. • Champion sustainability across the Worth estate. • Directly manage small to medium size building projects and support the design team on large projects. • Be accountable for the operational and financial performance of the services, grounds and maintenance. RESPONSIBILITIES STRATEGY • Produce and keep up to date an estate strategy that combines the need to maintain and refurbish existing buildings with a programme of capital improvement. This must consider both the built and natural estate at Worth. • As part of this strategy champion sustainability, seeking always to reduce and eventually eliminate the carbon footprint of Worth Abbey and Worth School.
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
• Lead the teams that work across the Worth estate, ensuring that the in-house teams work effectively with contractors and other support services. • Work closely with the School SLT, Commercial and Hospitality Bursar, and Abbey Trustees to minimise the impact of maintenance and improvement activities on the charitable and commercial use of the site. • Be accountable for the delivery of the grounds, buildings and services SLAs, proposing improvements to those SLAs to respective governance groups.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Lead the delivery of small and medium-sized improvement projects to agreed time, cost and quality standards. Work with external designers, contractors and in-house team as appropriate. • Support the work of external project managers on the delivery of large-scale capital projects. • Report on project delivery to the Assurance Director, COO, Governors Resources Committee and Buildings Advisory Group.
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
ALL POSTS HOLDERS ARE EXPECTED TO:
AREA
ESSENTIAL
DESIRABLE
• Adhere to and ensure compliance with the Child Protection Policy at all times. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post, the post-holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risk(s) to the safety or welfare of children at Worth School, these concerns must be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or the Head Master. • This role is subject to on-going satisfactory DBS checks and references. • Comply with Worth and departmental Health & Safety policies, procedures and risk assessment ensuring the provision of a safe and secure working environment, in keeping with legal requirements. • Actively contribute to the continuous improvement process and the ongoing development of a quality culture, for example, changing behaviour and identifying and implementing improvements to processes and activities, and encourage others to do the same. • The post holder must ensure that any current and past) is treated in strictest confidence and must be discussed only within the confines of the work setting with the appropriate members of the team or managers. • This job description is indicative of the nature and level of responsibilities associated with this post. It is not information relating to employees, students and volunteers (future, intended to be exhaustive, other tasks and responsibilities may be allocated as necessary from time to time.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Member of RICS or RIBA • Formal management qualification • Current NEBOSH (Construction) or similar certificate • Working with listed buildings • Managing outsourced services • Experience of managing grounds • Experience of working in an independent school • Experience of driving sustainability
• Degree educated • Project management qualification • Evidence of continued professional and personal development • Current driving licence • Substantial management experience gained in a building environment • Managing a range of relationships with internal and external stakeholders • Working with range of professions in a building environment • Working with contractors • Considerable knowledge of IT tools relevant to managing an estate • Commitment to H&S and knowledge of CDM • Ability to understand and adhere to Child Protection and Safeguarding legislation • Ability to communicate in writing and verbally with governors and other senior leaders, many of whom are volunteers • Ability to lead others to deliver a strategy • Influencing skills • Ability to act on own initiative • Flexibility, a positive approach to the role, and willingness to work unsocial hours
EXPERIENCE
KNOWLEDGE / TECHNICAL/ WORK-BASED SKILLS
GENERAL SKILLS/ ATTRIBUTES
VALUES To uphold and live the School values of: • Community – choose community
• Worship – have an attitude of gratitude • Humility – keep your feet on the ground • Stewardship – leave it better than you found it • Service – serve your heart out • Silence – listen more than you talk
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APPLICATION PROCESS
To arrange a confidential conversation, please contact our retained advisors Hayley Mintern or Melanie Pye at MRG.
Hayley Mintern hayley.mintern@mrgpeople.co.uk 07530 680 184 Melanie Pye melanie.pye@mrgpeople.co.uk 07530 734 568
Closing Date: Monday 1st August 2022 Informal Interviews: w/c 15th August 2022 Interview Dates: w/c 22nd August 2022
Applications should consist of a comprehensive CV.
The Management Recruitment Group has been retained, as our exclusive advisor for this appointment and any third party or direct applications will be forwarded to them. Worth is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its pupils and expects all employees to share this commitment. All employees must be willing to undergo child protection training and screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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