Home School Link Worker

Teaching Vacancies; Stafford; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Teaching Vacancies is seeking a dedicated Home School Link Worker for St Leonard’s Primary School. The role focuses on building strong relationships with families, improving attendance, and supporting safeguarding and welfare across the school and wider community.

The successful candidate will develop the role to strengthen home-school partnerships and create opportunities for family engagement, reflecting the school’s values of Care, Pride, Teamwork and Respect.

Qualifications

• Experience of working with children, families, schools or community organisations.
• Ability to build positive relationships quickly and communicate with diverse groups.
• Approachable, compassionate and non-judgemental approach to families.
• Understanding of attendance, safeguarding and early help processes, or willingness to develop quickly.

Responsibilities

• Build positive, trusting relationships with children, parents and carers.
• Promote school values in all interactions.
• Improve attendance and punctuality through proactive engagement with families.
• Monitor attendance concerns and support families to overcome barriers.
• Provide early help for low-level family concerns.
• Signpost families to services and help access support.
• Carry out home visits following school procedures.
• Collaborate with staff, safeguarding leads and external professionals.
• Support children 1:1 or in small groups to remove learning barriers.
• Organise family engagement activities and community events.
• Develop partnerships with community organisations and local services.
• Maintain records and contribute to safeguarding and welfare processes.

Skills

Experience with children and families

Communication skills

Empathy and non-judgemental attitude

Attendance and safeguarding knowledge

Job description

What skills and experience we're looking for

1-year fixed term contract commencing 4th January 2027 (with the potential to be made permanent)

St. Leonard’s Primary School is a popular, growing school that currently has over 240 children on roll and a Governor run Nursery. We are a hardworking and committed team of professionals who continually strive to provide the very best education, care and opportunities for every child.

At St Leonard’s Primary School, our vision is simple but ambitious:

"Where everyone is valued and together we reach for the stars."

Everything we do is underpinned by our core values of Care, Pride, Teamwork and Respect. We are proud to be a welcoming, inclusive school at the heart of our community, and we are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic Home School Link Worker to help strengthen the partnership between home, school and the wider community.

This is a newly created role, offering an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to make a lasting difference to the lives of our children and families. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to shape the role and play a key part in the next chapter of St Leonard's journey as we continue to grow and develop.

About the Role

We know that children achieve their best when home and school work together. As our Home School Link Worker, you will play a key role in developing positive relationships with families, providing early support where concerns arise, and helping to remove barriers that may affect children's attendance, wellbeing and success in school.

You will work closely with families, school staff and external agencies to ensure that children and their families receive the right support at the right time. A particular focus of the role will be improving attendance and punctuality through supportive engagement with parents and carers, helping to identify and overcome barriers that prevent children from attending school regularly.

The successful candidate will also help to strengthen St Leonard's position within the local community, creating opportunities for families to engage with school and fostering a strong sense of belonging.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build positive, trusting and supportive relationships with children, parents and carers.
• Promote the school's values of Care, Pride, Teamwork and Respect in all interactions.
• Work proactively with families to improve attendance and punctuality.
• Monitor attendance concerns and support families to overcome barriers to regular school attendance.
• Provide early help and support where there are low-level family concerns.
• Signpost families to appropriate services and agencies and support them in accessing help.
• Carry out home visits where appropriate and in line with school procedures.
• Work closely with school staff, safeguarding leads and external professionals to support children and families.
• Work 1:1 and in small groups with identified children to help remove barriers to learning and attendance.
• Organise and promote family engagement activities, workshops and events.
• Develop strong partnerships with community organisations and local services.
• Help strengthen the school's profile and presence within the local community.
• Maintain accurate records and contribute to safeguarding, attendance and welfare processes.

The successful candidate will:

• Have experience of working with children, families, schools or community organisations.
• Build positive relationships quickly and communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• Be approachable, compassionate and non-judgemental.
• Understand the challenges some families face and be committed to helping them succeed.
• Have a good understanding of attendance, safeguarding and early help processes, or be willing to develop this knowledge quickly.
• Be passionate about improving outcomes for children.
• Work independently and use initiative while also contributing as part of a team.
• Be organised, resilient and solution-focused.[41]li>Share our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
• Embody our school values of Care, Pride, Teamwork and Respect.

What the school offers its staff

St. Leonard’s offers:

• The opportunity to shape and develop a brand-new role within our school.
• The opportunity to contribute to the continued growth and development of a successful and ambitious school.
• A supportive and well‑organised governing body.
• A caring and supportive school community where relationships matter.
• Enthusiastic, friendly children who are eager to learn.
• Strong leadership and a commitment to staff wellbeing.
• A commitment to your continued professional development and progress within your role.
• The opportunity to make a genuine difference to children, families and the wider community.

Further details about the role

The Home School Link Worker will work closely with the Headteacher, senior leadership team and wider staff to ensure families receive timely support and that every child is given the best possible opportunity to succeed.

Visits to the school are warmly welcomed but not essential. These can be arranged with the school office for the following sessions:

Tuesday 3rd November 4pm

Closing Date: Monday 16th November 12.00pm

Interviews will follow shortly afterwards

This School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service which will require you to disclose details of all unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.

Please note that if you are shortlisted for the role, we may conduct an online search as part of our due diligence on the shortlisted candidates. This may help identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and are publicly available online, which may indicate that you are unsuitable to work with children, and that we may want to explore with you at interview.

Commitment to safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This position is subject to a criminal records check from the DBS which will require you to disclose details of all unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form. Please note that if you are shortlisted for the role, we may conduct an online search as part of our due diligence on the shortlisted candidates. This may help identify any incidents that are publicly available online.