School Attendance Support Officer

We are looking to recruit Inclusion Officers: School Attendance Support Officers (SASO) in the School Attendance Support Service in West Northamptonshire Council, based at One Angel Square but also working in the school community. Ensuring good attendance at school is everyone’s business and it is our role to ensure that all pupils receive the education to which they are entitled. It is our intention that the right support is given at the right time to ensure that attendance for all pupils, but particularly for our vulnerable cohorts, sits at a good level. We are clear that anything below 95% is not good enough and will require action by the school and parents working with West Northants Council and other essential services.

Using the DfE Attendance guidance entitled Working Together to Improve School Attendance as a basis for our work, the SASO will lead termly Targeted Support Meetings within their allocated schools to identify barriers to good attendance and navigate appropriate support for the school, for the pupil and their family, to ensure that attendance is prioritised. You would be joining a highly motivated, committed team which has been brought together from a wide range of experiences to ensure pupils have full access to and are safe in education and to support access to education and positive educational outcomes for vulnerable learners.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Children and Adults Barred List check. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

As a School Attendance Support Officer, you will be meeting regularly with your allocated schools using key attendance data to identify overall attendance trends, identifying pupils of concern and what barriers are in existence. You will be working with other services and teams to identify support to promote good attendance and where necessary and having followed clear processes to support good attendance, use prosecution to bring about change as and where it is deemed appropriate to do so.

About you

We want talented, ambitious and passionate people like you to come and take on this challenging and rewarding role. You must be able to work collaboratively and supportively whilst balancing this with the ability to challenge where it is required. With excellent oral and written communication skills, you will be a clear thinker and outcome focused. Collaborative multi-agency working is key to this role alongside being resilient and determined.

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people. Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.