Admin of Attendance and safeguarding officer

We are seeking to appoint a dedicated, organised, and compassionate Admin of Attendance and safeguarding officer to join our specialist SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) school. This is a vital role supporting vulnerable young people and their families to improve attendance, wellbeing, and engagement with education.

The successful candidate will play a key role in promoting high levels of attendance, supporting safeguarding procedures, and working closely with students, families, staff, and external agencies to ensure pupils are safe, supported, and able to achieve their full potential.

Key Responsibilities:

• Monitor, track, and promote student attendance and punctuality
• Follow up daily absences and work proactively with families to improve attendance
• Maintain accurate attendance and safeguarding records
• Support the school’s safeguarding systems and procedures in line with statutory guidance
• Liaise with external agencies, local authorities, and parents/carers
• Provide pastoral support to students and families where appropriate
• Work closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and wider pastoral team
• Contribute to safeguarding meetings, referrals, and documentation

The Ideal Candidate Will:

• Have experience working in attendance, safeguarding, pastoral, or welfare roles within education or children’s services
• Have a good understanding of safeguarding legislation and attendance procedures
• Be able to build positive and professional relationships with students and families
• Demonstrate strong communication, organisational, and record-keeping skills
• Be calm, resilient, and able to work effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Have experience supporting vulnerable or hard-to-reach young people, ideally within an SEMH setting

At Portland School, we are dedicated to providing exceptional learning and experiences to pupils with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Difficulties (SEMHD). Our mission is to empower young minds and nurture futures, ensuring that every student reaches their full potential.

We are a split site school with two provisions to meet different needs, one at Trent Vale and one at Blythe Bridge. We have an amazing staff team who work tirelessly to support approximately 140 pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.

As a specialist school, our pupils benefit from smaller class sizes, a more practical curriculum, access to alternative accreditations and a highly trained staff team. Both sites have spacious grounds allowing us to provide outdoor education, with our Blythe Bridge site boasting specialist classrooms for Design and technology, Art and Design, Science, Food technology and PE.

At the heart of our school are a set of shared values where our entire school community are supported to develop a sense of Respect, Responsibility, Belonging, Independence, show a Team Approach and look after their own Mental Toughness.

Shaw Education Trust offer the following employee benefits with your Teaching or Support Staff employment:

• An excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (Support Staff) / Teachers Pension (Teaching Staff)
• Generous holiday entitlement from your first day of employment (37 days holiday rising to 39 days after 5 years’ service including Bank Holidays)
• Access to Medicash Health & Wellbeing Plan: Enjoy health services designed to support your well-being.
• Free DiscountForTeachers Scheme for all staff (Support and Teaching), Exclusive discounts to save money with a wide selection of discounts and exclusive offers from hundreds of the biggest brands.
• Free Eye Tests
• Cycle to work scheme
• Access to our Institute of Education and fantastic opportunities to help you grow, contribute and flourish in your role and in the Trust.

We know our people are the key to our success and so we’re committed to ensuring the employment experience at Shaw Education Trust is a rewarding one.

Colleagues within the Trust benefit from:

• Access to a full range of courses both in-house and professionally accredited.
• Experienced leadership and subject-specific support.
• Guidance from former HMIs and serving Ofsted Inspectors within the Trust.
• Access to the Trust’s Institute of Education and SCITT.
• Opportunities to work with different schools within the Trust as a Professional Advocate.
• Participating in peer reviews.
• Access to a suite of online courses.
• Placement projects within our family of schools.

This position is subject to robust vetting procedures, including an online search for all shortlisted candidates, in line with our Trust’s commitment to safer recruitment. An enhanced criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is required.

Shaw Education Trust is an Equal Opportunities employer. We are fully committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection processes promote equality, diversity, and inclusion at every stage.