Family Liaison Officer / Attendance Officer

RUTLISH SCHOOL; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A secondary school in the UK is seeking a Family Liaison Officer / Attendance Officer to enhance student engagement and facilitate family support. This permanent, full-time position involves managing contact with families, improving attendance rates, and collaborating with internal and external agencies. Ideal candidates will have excellent communication skills, safeguarding qualifications, and a strong commitment to student welfare. The start date is ASAP, and the role offers a competitive salary.

Qualifications

• Experience of working in educational settings or similar.
• A high level of integrity and confidentiality.
• Experience working in schools, preferably secondary schools.
• Knowledge of educational systems in England.

Responsibilities

• Act as a point of contact for families needing support.
• Maintain accurate attendance records using the school's database.
• Work with external agencies to support access to education.
• Carry out home visits when necessary.
• Support students' return to school after absences.

Skills

Excellent keyboard skills

Ability to motivate families and young people

Strong communication skills

Ability to develop and sustain good personal relationships

Calm disposition

Education

Safeguarding training/qualifications

Tools

SIMS

Microsoft software - Word

Microsoft software - Excel

Edukey

CPOMS

Job description

Family Liaison Officer / Attendance Officer

Salary: Full time £32,535 - £33,987

Actual £28,293 - £29,556

Grade: ME7 Point 12 - 15

Hours: 35 hours per week, 39 weeks per year (Term Time + Inset Days)

Contract: Permanent

Start Date: ASAP

Overview

We are looking to appoint a dedicated and committed Family Liaison Officer / Attendance Officer to work with an already strong pastoral and attendance team to improve the life chances of young people by supporting their engagement in education.

General Duties of Family Liaison Officer

• To act as point of contact for families who are in need of support to help their child access education
• Manage, implement, review and support strategies in place from the School
• To help identify barriers to education and work with school colleagues to provide support to overcome these barriers
• To work with external agencies to support (such as Education Welfare Service and The Children and Families Safeguarding Hub) to overcome barriers that prevent access to education
• To support families and young people to develop skills that will help them be independent and resilient
• To reduce absence rates for key students
• To instigate and maintain positive relationships with key families
• To sign post families to additional support where necessary
• To ensure records are kept up-to-date and confidential using school systems
• To work closely with the Safeguarding Team and attend Safeguarding Team meetings internally and with external agencies
• To arrange and lead meetings with key families that involve the School or other agencies
• Carry out home visits where necessary
• To support young people in their return to school after periods of absence
• To work closely with the wider Pastoral Team, including Heads and Deputy Heads of Year, the Inclusion Team and the SEND Team

General Duties of Attendance Officer

• To keep accurate records of student attendance and punctuality using the School's database
• To liaise with parents by telephone and in person regarding attendance issues including sensitive requests for medical evidence following persistent absences
• To liaise with students, parents/carers, teachers, school agencies, year co-ordinators, SENDCO and senior leadership team regarding absences.
• To liaise with the EWO by telephone and email (daily) and to attend fortnightly Attendance meetings
• To act as a point of contact for staff who have concerns over student well-being
• Supporting/monitoring individual students with issues regarding persistent absence
• Dealing with sensitive and confidential issues that arise through daily contact with parents/carers/students
• Overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Attendance Office including liaising with Senior Management over concerns
• Line Management of Attendance Assistant including performance management
• Responsibility for ensuring the Attendance area is appropriately manned for use as a main point of contact for students, staff and ad-hoc visitors to the Mostyn Road school site, during school opening hours
• Liaising with the School's First Aid Team, School Receptionist and outside agencies (Police/Ambulance) as and when appropriate
• To ensure accurate data entry and record keeping
• To carry out administrative tasks relating to attendance and punctuality.
• To ensure accurate administration in connection with twice daily, and lesson by lesson registration of students
• Accurate data entry onto SIMs Attendance Module.
• Administration connected to late student arrivals
• Ensuring any registers not completed by tutors/teachers are pursued
• To produce, using the School's database, daily absence and punctuality lists to a timeline in order that daily attendance monitoring can be carried out
• To produce, using the School's database, reports on pupil absence and punctuality as and when required.
• To produce letters for parents/carers regarding attendance/punctuality issues
• Administration involved in clearing outstanding student absences
• Administration relating to requests from students for leave of absence
• Monitoring communication from parents to ensure accurate attendance information
• To process outgoing Attendance letters

General Responsibilities

• To undertake any reasonable duty as requested by the Headteacher or SLT
• Uphold school policies
• Use Edukey (SEND) and CPOMS (Safeguarding)
• Engage with families, parents, carers and young people
• Work as part of a team
• Problem solving using creativity and initiative
• Identifying problems and barriers for young people and working to improve the situation
• Awareness of emotional and contextual needs of families and young people
• Attend and participate in Admin Team meetings
• To understand and put into practice school policies on Health & Safety and Equal Opportunities
• To take part in Continuous Professional Development as appropriate
• To undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade and responsibilities
• To undertake general administrative support as directed by the Support Services Manager including photocopying of documents, filing, faxing etc.
• To provide additional administrative support to other areas across the School as required e.g. Examination invigilation
• To assist the Support Services Manager with the organisation of school as required including attendance at events where appropriate e.g. Induction Evening, Open Evening
• Assist with student and staff First Aid and welfare, liaising with parents/staff etc. (First Aid training will be provided)

Whole School Responsibilities

• Be aware of and comply with, policies and procedures relating to child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equal opportunities for all
• Contribute to the overall ethos/work/aims of the School
• Appreciate and support the role of other professionals
• Attend and participate in relevant meetings as required
• Participate in training and other learning activities and performance development as required
• Recognise own strengths and areas of expertise and use these to advise and support others
• Provide additional administrative support to other areas across the school as required
• Assist in the cover duties of absent administrative staff where appropriate
• To show a personal commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people

Person Specification

Qualifications / Training

• Excellent keyboard skills
• The ability to learn and share knowledge of new computer systems
• Safeguarding training/ qualifications

Experience

• Experience of working in educational settings or similar
• A high level of integrity and confidentiality
• Knowledge of computer systems
• Calm disposition
• Experience of liaising with people at all levels
• Experience working for Educational Welfare Service, Children's Services or other related agencies
• Experience working in schools, preferably secondary schools

Knowledge

• Knowledge of SIMS
• Knowledge of Microsoft software - Word, Excel
• Good knowledge of the educational systems in England
• Knowledge of Edukey
• Knowledge of CPOMS
• Knowledge of Children's Services and/or Educational Welfare
• Attendance and the law in schools in England
• First Aid

Skills

• Ability to motivate reluctant and disengaged families and young people
• Able to work independently and take initiative
• Being able to engage with hard to reach families
• Able to use various software systems

Personal Qualities & Attributes

• Passionate and committed to the principle of meeting students' needs within a mainstream school
• Ability to work under pressure
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to develop and to sustain good personal relationships
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Clear understanding of safeguarding issues
• Good ability to work with lots of different people in school and externally

Child Protection

• To ensure that all adults within our school who have access to students, have been checked as to their suitability.
• To support the student's development in ways that will foster security, confidence and independence. Suitable support and guidance is provided so that students have a range of appropriate adults to whom they can turn if they are worried or in difficulties. These include year coordinators and tutors; Progress Centre staff, including the SENDCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) and non-teaching staff such as LSAs (learning support assistants), learning mentor, youth worker and a counsellor.
• To include in the curriculum opportunities for PSHE (Personal Social & Health Education) that equip students with the skills they need to stay safe from harm and to know to whom they should turn for help.
• To raise the awareness of both teaching and non-teaching staff of the need to safeguard students and of their responsibilities in identifying and reporting possible cases of abuse.
• To provide via the designated member of staff, year co-ordinators and tutors a systematic means of monitoring students known or thought to be at risk of harm.
• To emphasise the need for good levels of communication between all members of staff.
• To develop a structured procedure within the school that will be followed by all members of the school community in cases of suspected abuse.
• To develop and promote effective working relationships with other agencies such as Education Welfare, Social Services, CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service), YOS (Youth Offending Service) and the police.

We are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. All applicants are required to undertake an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. We fully support the London Borough of Merton's Equal Opportunities Policy.