Children Missing from Education Officer

Achieving for Children; Maidenhead; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A local community services organization in Maidenhead is seeking a Children Missing from Education Officer to manage the CME database and perform statutory inquiries. The role involves conducting home visits and liaising with families to support children's educational needs. Ideal candidates will have a relevant level 4 qualification and experience working with vulnerable children. Strong communication and risk management skills are essential. This is a full-time role with a salary range from £33,292 to £37,158.

Benefits

29 days annual leave increasing with service

Flexible working options

Local Government salary and pension scheme

Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience working with vulnerable children and young people.
• Knowledge of safeguarding and educational welfare.
• Ability to work collaboratively across organizations.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Children Missing from Education database.
• Conduct home visits to locate missing pupils.
• Ensure compliance with statutory education guidance.
• Support families through school admissions processes.
• Analyze CME data for reports to senior leadership.

Skills

Communication skills

Risk management

Interpersonal skills

Education

Level 4 professional qualification in Children and Youth, Social Care, or Education

Job description

Job Information

Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us.

Children Missing from Education Officer

Join a team that’s making a real impact. Achieving for Children’s Windsor and Maidenhead Children’s Services have been rated Good by Ofsted, reflecting our strong leadership, commitment to children, and a culture of learning and improvement.

We’re proud of our supportive environment, where passionate professionals are trusted to do their best work. If you’re ready to make a difference in a team that values progress and purpose, we’d love to hear from you. Find out and join us today.

The Children Missing from Education (CME) Officer is a critical and high-impact role within the Education Inclusion Service. You will be responsible for the end-to-end management of the CME database and triaging all incoming referrals. A key focus of this position is conducting statutory enquiries, including direct liaison with families and home visits, to ensure every child of compulsory school age is registered on a suitable school roll or receiving appropriate education. You will be instrumental in ensuring RBWM’s full compliance with statutory guidance and tracking pupils who move out of the area. This role requires precision, strong investigative skills and a commitment to safeguarding and early intervention.

Operational area: Windsor and Maidenhead Primary. Place of work: Maidenhead Town Hall, SL6 1LF.
Appointment type: Permanent.
Business area: Education.
Full time / Part time: Full-time.
Salary from £33,292 (G6.41) to £37,158 (G6.44).
Hours: 37.
Estimated interview date(s): 14/01/2026.
Closing Date: 07/01/2026.
Job Reference: 2211.

Documents (PDF, 390.73kb).

About the role

The Children Missing from Education Officer holds a vital statutory function within the RBWM Education Inclusion Service, reporting directly to the Inclusion & Access Manager. This role is essential for upholding the rights of children to an education and ensuring the Local Authority meets its legal duties under the Children Missing Education statutory guidance.

You will manage a dedicated and diverse caseload, addressing the needs and risks faced by children, young people, and their families. This responsibility extends to conducting formal, comprehensive enquiries to determine a pupil’s whereabouts, which necessitates effective liaison with internal council services, external agencies, schools, and direct engagement with pupils and families through scheduled home visits.

A crucial component of this role involves data integrity and compliance. You will be responsible for the maintenance and accurate tracking of the Children Missing from Education database. This includes ensuring full compliance and, where necessary, supporting the process for issuing School Attendance Orders and managing cases of legal non‑compliance. Furthermore, you will play a key part in providing data analysis and accurate statutory reports to senior leadership and the DfE.

Your day to day duties will include :

• Manage the Children Missing from Education database and triage all incoming service referrals from various sources.
• Conduct thorough, formal enquiries, including scheduled home visits, to ascertain the whereabouts of missing pupils.
• Ensure all RBWM processes align fully with the statutory Children Missing Education guidance.
• Manage a complex caseload to support children, young people, and families in securing a suitable school place or alternative suitable education.
• Support families new to the area by guiding them through the RBWM admissions process to secure prompt school placements.
• Track and record the next educational destinations of RBWM pupils who have moved within the UK or abroad, making appropriate referrals to other services and Local Authorities.
• Lead the process for issuing School Attendance Orders and manage subsequent cases of non‑compliance following legal guidance.
• Maintain clear, accurate, and systematic records of all work undertaken.
• Analyse and report on CME data to senior leaders and complete statutory reporting requirements for the Department for Education.

If you wish to have an informal discussion about the role please contact hiring manager Rosie Gossage for an informal discussion.

About you

• Educated at level 4, or above professional qualification in a relevant discipline (e.g. Children and Youth, Social Care, Education).
• Experience of working with children, young people and their parents / families who are vulnerable or at risk between home and school to negotiate and facilitate all parties needs.
• Experience of working across schools with an integrated working approach, including completing assessments and working with a range of multi‑agency providers.
• Appropriate understanding of risk management and safeguarding in the context of educational welfare in relation to children, young people and families.
• Commitment to collaborative working within Achieving for Children and across organisational boundaries in the best interests of children and families.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills that are open, honest, persuasive and pragmatic, including ability to negotiate and influence.

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to :

• 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (or for term‑time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non‑working periods in your contract).
• Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC.
• Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension).
• Flexible working options – helping to keep a good work life balance.
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme.
• A range of staff benefits and discounts.
• An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway.

Important Information

Start dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points‑based immigration system affecting EU and Non‑EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.

Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.