Marketing and Fundraising Officer
“The Unicorn School has been truly lifechanging for my child and me.”
About the School
At The Unicorn School, we transform the lives of children with learning differences and those of their families.
With a personalised curriculum, highly qualified staff, cutting-edge technology and kindness, we create the conditions for children to thrive and families to flourish.
We are a small, independent school for children aged 7 to 16 years. We specialise in helping children who are struggling to achieve their potential in mainstream education. These children might have a diagnosis of dyslexia, dyscalculia or dyspraxia, often with co-occurring Autism or ADHD. This can present as difficulties with language, speech, literacy or numeracy that are likely to have a significant impact on their self-esteem, happiness and future opportunities.
Expansion
In 2024, we received 375 enquiries for 24 places from parents who are desperate to find a school that can support their child or from six local authorities who have hundreds of children on their waiting lists. Therefore, there is a clear need to expand.
In September 2025 we opened our new school building, The Ock Buidling. This second site is opposite our existing school, enabling us to double in size. The site also means that we can offer a post-16, life skills provision for the first time.
This expansion presents exciting opportunities for our staff as well as our students and their families as we grow our student body and breadth of our curriculum, especially at KS4.
www.unicornoxford.co.uk
Benefits of working with us
Supportive staff, and an involved community who are committed to school improvement, who will work with you to achieve your goals
Students who are enthusiastic and highly motivated with a love of learning
Excellent premises and well-equipped classrooms providing a modern and technologically advanced learning environment for students. From September 2025 KS4 are housed in a newly developed building across the road.
The opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of our students
A competitive salary (including a staff laptop) and pension contributions
Professional support to continually progress and develop your career
● Access to Simply Health
www.unicornoxford.co.uk
Main Purpose of the Role
To support the day-to-day delivery of marketing, communications and fundraising. You will help produce content, manage channels and assist with the operational delivery of campaigns and fundraising activities. You will also support donor stewardship, CRM management and the creation of materials that help prospective families and supporters understand our work.
This is an ideal role for someone looking to further their marketing or charity career who enjoys creative work and wants to learn in a friendly and purposeful environment.
www.unicornoxford.co.uk
Key responsibilities
Marketing and Communications
● Create and schedule content for social media channels.
C Draft captions, stories, interviews and simple video edits.
Take photographs and short video clips during school activities and events.
Keep website content up to date by adding news, imagery, case studies and basic text updates.
Produce simple digital and print materials in Canva including posters, flyers, presentations and graphics.
Maintain the school’s photo and video library following safeguarding and consent procedures.
● Support basic PR activities such as drafting simple press releases and liaising with local media.
Assist in producing analytics reports for website, social media and paid campaigns.
Campaign Support
Help prepare assets for pupil recruitment campaigns including KS2 and KS5.
Draft content for landing pages, social variations and information sheets.
Support the setup of paid social campaigns by creating assets and uploading content.
Update campaign dashboards and help track performance.
Gather stories, quotes and classroom content that support campaign messaging.
Fundraising
Be the first point of contact for fundraising enquiries — from donors and event participants to community groups and corporate partners.
To support fundraisers with their own events and challenges.
To thank and communicate with our donors via e-mail and telephone.
Write and send thank you letters to supporters.
Ensure records on the CRM are updated.
Support with fundraising mailings and communications.
Support the Fundraising Manager with research into companies, community groups and charitable trusts.
Prepare basic fundraising materials such as newsletters, stewardship updates, simple case study drafts and event collateral.
Internal Communications
Capture stories, examples of student work and classroom moments for internal and external use.
Support the preparation of staff updates and internal communications materials.
Build positive relationships with staff to encourage proactive content sharing across the school.
General responsibilities
Be an enthusiastic ambassador for marketing and fundraising.
Ensure all content follows safeguarding, consent and GDPR requirements.
Attend occasional events outside regular hours including evenings and weekends.
About you
Minimum 2 years ’ experience in a fundraising or marketing role.
Proactive and positive with a “ can do ” approach.
Enjoy creating content and telling stories.
Strong written communication skills and a good eye for design.
● Experience using Canva or similar tools.
● Comfortable working with social media platforms.
● Well organised and confident managing multiple tasks.
Experience with CRM systems is helpful but training can be provided.
www.unicornoxford.co.uk
Commitment to Safeguarding and Welfare
The Unicorn School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils. As a Marketing and Fundraising Officer, you will be expected to:
Work in line with the school's safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures, as well as relevant statutory guidance (e.g., Keeping Children Safe in Education, Prevent)
Collaborate with the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) to ensure the best interests of pupils are promoted, including sharing concerns where necessary
Maintain a vigilant and proactive approach to identifying and responding to potential safeguarding issues
Participate in regular safeguarding training to keep your knowledge and understanding up to date
Promote a culture of safeguarding and pupil welfare throughout your work at the school
Making an application
Application Form
CVs are not accepted as part of the application process. If you wish to be considered for this post, please complete the application form, providing full details of your education and employment history, including any unpaid or voluntary work. Where there are gaps in your employment, please state the reasons why (eg. gap year, career break, unemployment etc).
You will note that we require details of two referees, one of which must be your current or most recent employer.
Suitability for this Position
This section of the form is very important. It gives you an opportunity to explain why you are applying and why you are the best person for this job. Use the information provided in this application pack as your guide, and give specific examples, where possible, to demonstrate how you match the requirements for this post.
Please remember to sign the declaration on the final page of the application form.
Please return your completed application form to:
recruitment@unicornoxford.co.uk marked for the attention of Alison Woodworth-Sturla.
Alternatively, if you are submitting a hard copy application, please post to:
FAO Diane Kenyon
The Unicorn School
20 Marcham Road
Abingdon
OX14 1AA
Interview and selection process
Those candidates who meet all the requirements for the post will be shortlisted and details of the interview programme will be confirmed in writing.
As part of the selection process, in addition to your skills and knowledge against the requirements of this role, specific questions will be asked to assess your suitability to work with children.
Under the Equality Act 2010, we are legally required to consider making reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged in the recruitment and selection process. We are therefore committed to meeting, wherever possible, any needs you may specify on the application form. Please contact the school if you need to discuss this in any detail.
We will consider any reasonable adjustments under the terms of the Equality Act to enable an applicant with a disability (as defined under the act) to meet the requirements of the post.
Induction and continuous professional development
The Head Teacher and School Governing Body are committed to ensuring your well-being and continuous professional development in this role. On appointment, the Head Teacher will discuss an appropriate induction programme with you which will help familiarise you with the culture of the school, local practices and policies.
You will be offered the opportunity to further develop your professional knowledge by participating in local training events and, where appropriate, working towards further qualifications such as NVQs.
Support staff employees new to The Unicorn School will be subject to a probationary period of 6 months.
Pre-employment checks
References
If you are shortlisted, we will normally take up references before the interview date; however there is an option to decline this on the application form. If you do not give permission to contact your referees prior to interview, we will only contact them should an offer be made and accepted. One of your referees must be your current or most recent employer. Two satisfactory references must be received before we confirm any offer of an appointment. The information we request will relate to salary, length of service, sickness and absence record, skills and abilities, suitability for the job, disciplinary record and suitability to work with children.
Copies of references, or references addressed “to whom it may concern ” , will not be accepted. On receipt of references, your referees may be contacted to verify any discrepancies, anomalies, or relevant issues as part of the recruitment verification process.
Disclosure & Barring Checks
Employment at this school is subject to an enhanced check with the Disclosure & Barring Service. Registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority will also be a requirement prior to confirming an offer of employment.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemption Amendment) Order 1986, there are a number of jobs where we must take account of convictions, even though they are ‘spent’. All posts at this school are regarded as such.
However, spent and/or unspent convictions may not necessarily make you unsuitable for an appointment.
Validation of Qualifications
All short-listed candidates will be asked to bring original certificates of relevant qualifications to interview. These will be photocopied and kept on file and may be confirmed as genuine with the relevant awarding bodies.
Right to Work in the United Kingdom
Under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, it is a criminal offence to employ anyone who is not entitled to live or work in the United Kingdom. Applicants can expect us to ask for proof of this at interview stage, where you will be asked to provide some original documentation to confirm that you are eligible to work within the UK. Photographic proof of identity will also be required.
Medical Assessment
A satisfactory medical form will be required before we confirm any offer of an appointment. If there are concerns, a medical assessment will be required.
www.unicornoxford.co.uk