AMPE -Attendance Mentor, Walsall

Location: Hybrid / Walsall, UK (You must live within a 10mile radius of Walsall & have the right to work in the UK without restrictions to apply)

Travel Requirements: Required within allocated area

Overview of the Role

Elevating Education, Everywhere. At Etio we review, evaluate, benchmark and support education services in institutions all over the world. We have the expertise, experience and energy that drives progress and elevates the quality of education for thousands of children and young people.

The Attendance Mentorship Programme (AMP) is an important national programme for Etio, delivered via a contract with the Department for Education (DfE). As part of the Department’s urgent response to the pupil attendance crisis, our role is to provide teams of mentors conducting short-term mentorship support to persistently absent secondary school pupils across 10 different Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs). This is a pilot extension contract aiming to test new models that effectively tackle persistent absence issues in secondary schools, and Etio will be the Prime contractor, delivering the 2-3 year programme alongside a range of specialist sub-contractor partners (ImpactED, Oasis Trust, TKAT, and Thrive). The programme is highly scrutinised and complex, requiring excellent stakeholder management with the DfE, other regulatory bodies, school leaders and many others.

The position of Attendance Mentor involves

• Provide mentoring expertise to severely or persistently absent pupils in schools across one of ten areas.
• Working closely with individual pupils and their families supporting them and addressing any specific barriers to school attendance,
• Operating in conjunction with their school, local authority and other relevant services,
• Improving overall attendance levels and engagement with education for all supported pupils,
• Managing a caseload across three pupil cohort waves per annum.

Key Responsibilities

Undertake mentoring approaches to ensure all elements of AMP are completed to a high standard against performance and quality metrics, ultimately improving pupil attendance, through:

• Providing tailored one-to-one support to severely absent or persistently absent secondary-age pupils;
• Working with the pupil’s caregivers and school to understand the barriers to attendance;
• Providing support in different locations, including schools and other safe spaces to ensure that the pupil attends school more often;
• Creating a meaningful action plan, outlining practical support measures, actions and goals.

Acting as a positive role model and building constructive relationships with and for pupils by

• Developing a trusting relationship with each pupil;
• Listening carefully and helping each pupil gain insight and self-awareness;
• Working closely with each school to address barriers to specific pupil’s attendance;
• Help each pupil gain access to new networks and improve their human capital.

Provide a credible presence to area stakeholders, including schools and other local partners by

• Identifying and managing area stakeholder relationships to improve the probability of success of each pupil in improving their attendance;
• Utilise referral processes to other services when specialist support is required;
• Providing relevant management information as agreed with stakeholders and partners;
• Working closely with school staff to ensure AMP contributes to a cohesive and holistic pupil approach when required.

Take forward the strategy we have for AMP, with excellent operational delivery by

• Triangulating pupil survey responses and attendance patterns;
• Capturing relevant data on approved systems for analysis and best practice research;
• Creating tailored a plan with each pupil with timescales and goals and assessing mentee against actions;
• Being responsible for regular check-ins with mentees and their families;
• Preparing mentees for reintegration and long-term self-reliance;
• Undertaking all CPD required for the mentor role including L3 qualification;
• Adhering safeguarding requirements in line with school processes.

Expected Behaviours and Working Style

• Make every day count - Delivers with focus and pace, prioritising high-impact activity and using evidence and insight to ensure consistently high-quality outcomes at national scale.
• Lead the way - Provides confident, credible leadership through expertise and influence, setting clear direction, anticipating challenges, and building capability across the system.
• Deliver with empathy - Builds trusted relationships grounded in a deep understanding of Secondary contexts, communicating with clarity, respect, and sensitivity to the realities of practice.
• Improving mentee attendance against set contract and programme KPIs;
• Accurate and constructive data and inputs to allow impact and research analysis;
• Completing the Level 3 Coaching and Mentoring course is a requirement of the role. This qualification would need to be achieved within the first year and will be funded by Etio.

Skills, Experience, and Qualifications

• Educated to GCSE or equivalent level, including at least a C grade in English and Maths (or equivalent).
• Ability to communicate effectively with pupils, adults, families and colleagues;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including report writing;
• Excellent listening skills and the ability to draw out mentee attendance barriers;
• Ability to plan, prioritise effectively to meet deadlines and targets;
• Ability to act on own initiative and be well organised;
• Ability to self-evaluate learning needs and actively seek learning opportunities;
• Experience of and ability to contribute to multi-agency working
• Extensive experience of working with children and young people
• Working knowledge and experience of safeguarding processes
• An understanding of school practices and procedures which impact on children
• L3 or above in mentoring or coaching or similar
• Confidence and competence in using online communication effectively
• Using referral networks and specialist agencies to achieve results
• Prior experience of Mentorship and/or School Attendance barriers programmes
• Knowledge of the area education landscape including PEIAs

Etio are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all. We welcome applications from all groups, particularly those underrepresented in the workforce.

Note to all applicants - Etio reserve the right to close an advertisement to applications ahead of the advertised closure date. For this reason, shortlisting may take place prior to the closing date on some occasions. Therefore, please do not hesitate to apply early.

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