Attendance Officer
Riverside Bridge School
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Job summary
Riverside Bridge School in Barking seeks an experienced Attendance Officer to manage attendance processes, engage with families and support safeguarding. The role blends administration with direct family work and multi-agency collaboration.
You will monitor registers, follow up absences, coordinate meetings, and carry out home visits while using data to guide targeted interventions.
Qualifications
- GCSE English and Mathematics or equivalent.
- Experience in school attendance, safeguarding, welfare or administrative work.
- Strong organisational and time-management skills.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Responsibilities
- Monitor daily attendance registers and ensure timely completion.
- Contact families to discuss attendance and support return to school.
- Maintain accurate attendance records and apply codes per guidance.
- Coordinate Attendance Review Meetings and support plans.
- Undertake home visits and liaise with safeguarding and multi-agency teams.
- Produce reports for attendance meetings and statutory returns.
- Safeguard training and continuous professional development.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Attendance Officer
Riverside Bridge School
Salary: Scale 5.12
Contract: Term-time - this is initially a fixed term contract of 1 year from date of appointment.
Hours: 8:30am-4:00pm
Location: Barking, London, IG11 0HZ
Responsible to: Deputy Headteacher (Senior Attendance Champion)
Riverside Bridge School is a specialist school in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, providing education for children and young people aged 4-18 with complex special educational needs and disabilities.
Our pupils have a wide range of needs, including autism, severe and profound learning difficulties, complex communication needs, sensory processing differences, physical and medical needs, and emotional regulation difficulties.
Many of our pupils are non-verbal or minimally verbal and rely on alternative and augmentative communication, visual systems and Total Communication approaches.
We recognise that attendance is fundamental to safeguarding, wellbeing, engagement and access to education. However, we also understand that pupils and families may experience complex barriers to regular school attendance.
Our approach is support-first and safeguarding-led, combining high expectations for attendance and punctuality with an understanding of individual circumstances, professional curiosity and appropriate intervention.
We are seeking a highly organised, proactive and committed Attendance Officer to take operational responsibility for attendance processes across the school.
This is a key role within our attendance and safeguarding arrangements, requiring someone who can combine accurate administration and data analysis with effective communication, professional judgement and direct work with families.
Working under the direction of the Deputy Headteacher (Senior Attendance Champion), the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring that attendance is recorded accurately, absences are followed up promptly, concerns are identified early and appropriate support and intervention are implemented.
This is not solely an administrative role. The post involves direct engagement with families, attendance meetings, safeguarding and welfare follow-up, home visits and multi-agency working.
The Attendance Officer will work as part of the school's safeguarding team and will be required to undertake and maintain DSL-level safeguarding training.
Monitor daily attendance registers, ensuring morning registers are completed and closed by 9:45am and afternoon registers by 1:30pm.
Operate first-day response procedures, promptly following up unexplained absences and prioritising vulnerable pupils.
Contact parents and carers to establish reasons for absence and support pupils' return to school.
Maintain accurate attendance and punctuality records using Bromcom and other school systems.
Ensure attendance codes are applied accurately in accordance with Department for Education guidance.
Monitor attendance and punctuality patterns and identify emerging concerns requiring intervention.
Implement the school's graduated attendance response, identifying pupils at risk of persistent or severe absence.
Monitor attendance against the school's intervention thresholds, including early concern, at risk of persistent absence, persistent absence and severe absence.
Arrange, coordinate and support Attendance Review Meetings and Attendance Support Meetings.
Contribute to the development, implementation and review of individual Attendance Support Plans.
Maintain regular, professional communication with families regarding attendance concerns and agreed actions.
Identify and respond sensitively to barriers including SEND, medical needs, emotional wellbeing, family circumstances and transport difficulties.
Balance appropriate challenge and accountability with practical support, professional judgement and positive relationships.
Monitor the effectiveness of interventions and ensure agreed actions are followed up within appropriate timescales.
Recognise that unexplained absence and changes in attendance patterns may indicate safeguarding or welfare concerns.
Escalate safeguarding concerns immediately through the school's agreed procedures.
Work closely with the safeguarding team to identify and support vulnerable pupils.
Maintain professional curiosity when investigating absence, particularly where pupils may be unable to communicate concerns verbally.
Contribute to safeguarding discussions, welfare checks, referrals and multi-agency processes.
Support Children Missing Education procedures and relevant statutory safeguarding processes.
Undertake DSL-level safeguarding training and apply this knowledge appropriately within the responsibilities of the role.
Maintain accurate, confidential records of safeguarding-related attendance concerns and actions.
A significant responsibility of this post is the coordination and undertaking of attendance-related home visits.
The successful candidate will:
Coordinate and undertake attendance and welfare home visits in accordance with school procedures and risk assessments.
Undertake home visits where pupils have been absent for three consecutive school days without appropriate contact, explanation or supporting evidence.
Work alongside safeguarding colleagues and senior leaders where appropriate.
Conduct visits sensitively and professionally, establishing the circumstances surrounding absence and identifying any safeguarding or welfare concerns.
Support families in identifying barriers to attendance and accessing appropriate assistance.
Record visit outcomes accurately and promptly, escalating concerns without delay.
Contribute to subsequent attendance planning, safeguarding discussions and multi-agency intervention.
Applicants must be comfortable undertaking home visits and engaging professionally with families in community settings, following the school's agreed safety and safeguarding procedures.
Maintain and update the school's attendance and punctuality tracking systems.
Produce accurate daily and weekly attendance information for senior leaders and safeguarding staff.
Analyse attendance at pupil, class, pathway, key stage and whole-school level.
Identify patterns of persistent absence, severe absence, repeated lateness and recurring absence on particular days.
Monitor attendance across vulnerable pupil groups and identify where targeted support may be required.
Track attendance interventions, agreed actions and their impact.
Prepare reports and evidence for attendance meetings, safeguarding reviews, governors and external agencies where required.
Support statutory attendance returns and ensure compliance with relevant reporting requirements.
Maintain high standards of accuracy, confidentiality and data protection.
The Attendance Officer will work collaboratively with professionals and external agencies to address attendance concerns and support vulnerable pupils and families.
This may include working with:
Local Authority Attendance Teams
Social Care and Early Help Services
Health professionals
Educational Psychology Services
CAMHS
Family Support Services
Other professionals involved in supporting pupils and families
The postholder will contribute attendance information to relevant meetings, support referrals, implement agreed actions and maintain effective professional communication.
Promote high expectations for attendance and punctuality across the school community.
Support the implementation of the school's Attendance Policy and Support-First Approach to Attendance.
Work with classroom teachers, co-educators and school leaders to identify attendance barriers and coordinate appropriate responses.
Support staff understanding of attendance procedures, reporting expectations and safeguarding escalation.
Contribute to attendance awareness initiatives and the celebration of improved attendance.
Support school leaders in evaluating attendance performance and identifying priorities for improvement.
We are looking for a professional who combines strong administrative and analytical skills with the confidence, sensitivity and judgement needed to work directly with families experiencing attendance difficulties.
The successful candidate will have:
GCSE English and Mathematics, or equivalent qualifications.
Experience working in a school, attendance, safeguarding, welfare or administrative role.
Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Experience maintaining accurate records and handling confidential information.
An understanding of school attendance procedures and safeguarding responsibilities.
The ability to analyse information, identify patterns and take appropriate action.
Confidence in communicating with parents and carers, including when discussing sensitive or challenging matters.
The ability to work independently while recognising when concerns require escalation.
Professional curiosity, sound judgement, discretion and attention to detail.
A commitment to equality, inclusion, safeguarding and improving outcomes for pupils.
Experience of working in a specialist SEND setting, undertaking home visits, using Bromcom or working with external agencies would be advantageous but is not essential.
Working at Riverside Bridge School requires an understanding that attendance difficulties may arise from complex and interrelated circumstances.
Pupils may be unable to communicate illness, anxiety, distress or difficulties through speech. Changes in behaviour, presentation, routines or attendance patterns may therefore provide important information about their wellbeing.
The successful candidate must be able to recognise these complexities while maintaining clear expectations, following school procedures and ensuring that attendance concerns are addressed consistently.
This role requires someone who is confident in making telephone calls, following up unexplained absence, arranging meetings, undertaking home visits and escalating concerns when necessary.
It is essential that the postholder can balance professional persistence with sensitivity, safeguarding vigilance and practical support for families.
Riverside Bridge School is committed to supporting the professional development of its staff.
The successful candidate will have opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills through relevant training, collaborative working and professional development.
This will include DSL-level safeguarding training and opportunities to develop expertise in attendance procedures, safeguarding, SEND, family engagement and multi-agency working.
Riverside Bridge School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment.
The successful candidate will be subject to safer recruitment procedures, including an enhanced DBS check with a children's barred-list check and other relevant pre-employment checks.
We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates.
Salary: Scale 5.12
Contract: Term-time
Hours: 8:30am-4:00pm
Location: Riverside Bridge School, Barking, IG11 0HZ
For further information: recruitment@riversidebridge.com
Riverside Bridge School - Inspiring communication, empowering independence, achieving brighter futures.
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