Attendance Officer

Salary FTE: Grade 4 £24,790 to £25,183

Actual salary: £21,005 to £22,889 (with under five years’ service)

Contract term: 37 hours per week, 39 weeks, permanent

Start date: March 2025

Closing date: Midnight Sunday 26 January 2025

The school

King Ecgbert School is a highly successful school at the heart of Mercia Learning Trust. We pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional quality of education to learners from all backgrounds aged 11-18.

Our school is exceptionally strong - rated outstanding by Ofsted and has academic results that are consistently ‘well above average’.

This is a truly comprehensive school, committed to providing outstanding education for all in a safe, happy and positive learning environment.

The role

We have an exciting opportunity for a talented and empathetic individual to join our pastoral team as an attendance officer. You will work with other members of the team, as well as with the senior leadership team, to construct and implement strategies to improve levels of pupil attendance, helping to re-engage pupils with education and providing support for families facing difficulties.

Maintaining accurate pupil attendance records, you will report on cases where attendance is an issue and work collaboratively with pupils, families, staff, and external agencies, to make improvements.

Responsibilities of the post include:

• being a first point of contact for absence calls into school and calls to families where a reason for absence has not been determined (first day calling)

• making home visits to assess reasons for absence

• challenging absence at all levels

• making referrals to relevant agencies where necessary

• identifying risks to future attendance through regular reporting and ensure effective measures are in place to mitigate those risks.

The candidate

Candidates must have the ability to engage and be empathetic whilst also being strong in character, and able to deal with challenging conversations on the phone and in person. An unflappable nature is key – the successful candidate will be able to forge successful relationships with pupils and families who may not wish to engage.

Candidates must be ambitious and strive to continually make improvements to already successful systems and processes. They must be team players – willing to listen to the views and ideas of others in the team, but also able to challenge where necessary.

If you are a dedicated and passionate professional with a desire to make a real difference to the lives and education of our pupils, then we want to hear from you.