Education Welfare Officer

We are currently looking to recruit an Education Welfare Officer to join our busy team, to assist our drive to increase and sustain school attendance for all our pupils, by identifying barriers to engagement with learning and being proactive in referrals for early help support where applicable, and supporting effective partnership working.

Responsibilities

• Provide support, advice and guidance to schools, governors, other professionals, pupils and parent/carers to ensure the regular attendance of all pupils within your allocation is achieved.
• Assist schools to improve pupil attendance, reducing general absenteeism and persistent absences in the schools allocated to you.
• Engage in enforcement through fixed penalty notices or Court action where necessary when there are no acceptable reasons for the level of absence.
• Work as part of a wider team of Education Welfare Officers and Attendance Support Officers; collaborate with many departments across the directorate, wider council services, schools and external agencies.
• Identify the causes of absences and provide early intervention support; ensure pupil voice is captured at all times.
• Carry out effective tracking of young people moving out of county and follow CME processes.
• Undertake register consultations; provide early identification of irregular attendance.
• Use one-to-one person-centred approaches to help identify barriers to engagement.
• Conduct house visits and attend meetings relevant to your allocated caseload (including safeguarding/CP meetings and ALN meetings).
• Promote high standards of attendance for all pupils and attend court where required.
• Make referrals to social services and early help support; provide advice and guidance where difficulties and/or barriers to engagement with learning have been established.
• Make phone calls and send letters to parent/carers to offer support and guidance.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Experience of working in a busy, challenging environment with a track record of successful partnership working and supporting children, young people and their families to achieve improved outcomes; experience in promoting school attendance is advantageous.
• Experience of working with schools and improving outcomes for children; strong understanding of management information systems such as SIMS/EMS/Capita One or similar systems.
• Full driving licence and ability to travel around the County Borough; occasional travel to meetings outside the immediate area.
• Ability to travel for business purposes without unreasonable disruption to the role if a driving licence or vehicle is not possessed.
• Ideally: Minimum education qualification 4 GCSEs at grade C or above, one of which must be English or Welsh, plus Mathematics or an equivalent qualification.

Additional Information

• Education Welfare Officers are based within individual schools. Applications may be submitted in Welsh; Welsh language skills are not required.
• We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with a disability and for armed forces veterans.
• There is additional support for employees at risk of redundancy or who have been made redundant, with a guaranteed interview for jobs across the Council.
• Please note that applicants must meet all essential criteria as shown in the person specification to qualify for a guaranteed interview.
• If you are affected by job losses at Tata Steel, please indicate this on your application.

Benefits

• Competitive employee package with a 22.4% employer pension contribution.
• Discounted gym membership with Celtic Leisure.
• Cycle to work scheme with up to 40% off bikes and cycling equipment.
• Purchase a new car through Tusker salary sacrifice scheme.
• Exclusive discounts at local and national retailers with the Smart Spend app through our staff wellbeing group.