Attendance Support Officer

Job Category : Admin & Clerical Lambpit Street, Wrexham, Wrexham Principal Area, LL11 1AR Wrexham County Borough Council Hours Per Week : 37.00 Start Date : Immediate Start Start Time : 09:00 End Time : 17:00 Salary: £14.82

Job Purpose

To improve the attendance, attainment and engagement of pupils in schools and other educational settings. Working with young people and their families to remove barriers preventing attendance at their educational provision and dealing with non-attendance issues by working with partner agencies. Working with all schools to provide advice on improving the recording and management of attendance, including providing attendance audits.

Dimensions

No supervision responsibility or budgetary responsibility. Responsibility for producing data on attendance visits, tracking attendance of pupils and impact of Attendance Support Officer interventions. This data to be used for evaluation by schools, Education and Early Intervention Department and as part of self evaluation processes for Estyn and preparation of court documents. Running Attendance Improvement Plans (AIPs) with pupils and their families. Tracking data relating to the AIPs and updating School Senior Management Teams on progress.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Working in schools or college under the direction of the Education Support Manager in partnership with schools, settings, parents and the Education Social Worker team to determine appropriate action with regard to non attendance issues - 10%
• Complete home visits to determine reasons for absence and to assist pupils to settle back into school on return from absence using a number of strategies - 10%
• Explain the implications of attendance legislation if relevant - 20%
• Acting as a mentor and coach to pupils to ensure any anxieties or concerns with regards to attendance are addressed - 10%
• Assisting pupils to resolve any problems which arise within school or settings that affects school attendance, including making referrals to other services - 5%
• Build constructive relationships with parents/carers, exchanging information, facilitating their support for their child's attendance and supporting home to school and community links - 5%
• Research new models and methods of improving school attendance and share good practice with the ESW team - 5%
• Complete Attendance Audits in schools analysing their processes and procedures for managing non attendance in line with the All Wales Attendance Framework - 5%
• Report findings back to the Education Support Manager

Other duties: The duties and responsibilities in this job description are not exhaustive. The postholder may be required to undertake other duties that may be required from time to time within the general scope of the post. Any such duties should not substantially change the general character of the post. Duties and responsibilities outside the general scope of this grade of post will be with consent of the post holder.

Qualifications

• At least 5 GCSEs C grade or above
• Level 4 Qualification in a relevant discipline such as youth & community work, health & social diploma or demonstrate significant equivalent specialist experience in school management systems and data profiling
• Coaching, mentoring or other relevant qualification Specialist Knowledge
• Significant experience of Education/Schools Services Experience of the SIMS Attendance Package or similar
• Knowledge of relevant organisations/partnerships to support the Traveller Community Experience of working directly with vulnerable and hard to reach groups
• Experience of working in a range of educational settings including mainstream, special schools and PRUs
• Experience of supporting vulnerable young people to achieve their potential through raising attendance and engagement

Practical and Intellectual Skills

• Ability to communicate in Welsh
• The ability to understand and use data to improve attendance
• Good communication skills, both verbal and written
• Flexible and adaptable approach to work situations and practices
• Ability to work independently and to organise a workload
• Competent in the use of ICT
• Work within Legislation, Policy and Procedures
• Work positively and collaboratively with other professionals and agencies working with the same families

Personal Attributes

• Engage effectively with pupils, their families and professionals in often challenging situations
• Use a high level of discretion/confidentiality
• Work as a team member and independently

Personal Circumstances

• Ability to travel across the County Borough to carry out work (e.g. attend meetings / visit clients or work sites and transport pupils)
• Sufficient physical mobility to meet the demands of direct work in a variety of settings