One Clerk's Journey

I first joined the Essex Clerking Agency in November 2001, after leaving my full-time post as Personnel Team Leader with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets the previous year to have my second child.

I had worked at Tower Hamlets for several years in the Education Personnel Department, and had gained a lot of relevant experience in Education, Governance and Administration during this time.

I decided to join the Clerking Agency as it provided a flexible means of employment whilst my children were small, fitting in well with school term time. Clerking also gave me the opportunity to use the skills I had gained over many years of employment. After contacting the Clerking Agency, I attended the Clerks’ Induction Training at Chelmsford fairly quickly and then waited for a school placement.

My first school was a Voluntary Aided, Roman Catholic Primary in Billericay. I clerked here for approximately 6 months, and was then asked to take on the clerking role for the Temporary Governing Body of a Special School in Basildon which was amalgamating with another school in Chelmsford to form a new model Special School. I found this new role very different to my initial clerking position – clerking temporary governing bodies requires following a unique pattern and process not usually necessary in established schools.

After two years, I left the Clerking Agency in November 2003, following our decision to move house to Burnham-on-Crouch, which eventually happened in March 2004.

About a year after our move, I was introduced to the Chair of Governors of my local school. It soon came to light that the school were seeking a new Clerk, so I decided to re-apply to the Clerking Agency and soon started Clerking for my local Primary. As a result of this appointment, and through word of mouth, my Clerking work quickly expanded to include three further local primaries, and the local secondary school.

It soon became apparent that clerking for a secondary school was very different from clerking for Primaries – not so much in the type of work expected, but the number of meetings is much higher, and the day to day involvement with the school is much greater, as is your role and input as clerk.

It was also apparent that even during a relatively short space of time, the requirements of clerking had become much greater, with clerks now expected to be much better informed and up to date with the constant changes and new legislation in Education. However, as a result of this I also now found clerking much more interesting and fulfilling than had previously been the case, and found my previous experience in Education and Administration invaluable.

After nearly three years I have found clerking to be rewarding, fulfilling and interesting work. It is also, at times, frustrating, time-consuming and repetitive, and it can sometimes be lonely working from home, but I think that is in the nature of the work, and also a result of doing it for so long! On the whole I enjoy clerking, and particularly enjoy the freedom it brings in terms of setting your own work schedule, the flexibility it offers around child-care commitments, and the opportunity it gives to use your brain now and then!