Attendance and Outreach Worker

Are you passionate about ensuring every young person has access to the education they deserve? Do you have the empathy required to listen, combined with the resilience needed to challenge attendance boundaries? Are you looking for a position where your day-to-day efforts have a direct, measurable impact on student well-being?

This is an exceptional opportunity for a dedicated Attendance and Outreach Worker to step into a vital support capacity starting this September 2026. Operating on a full-time, temp-to-perm basis, the successful candidate will serve as the core link between the home environment and educational success. The primary objective is to monitor student attendance, investigate underlying reasons for absence, and implement targeted outreach strategies that re-engage learners. Acting as an advocate for the student, the individual in this role will collaborate closely with families, school staff, and external support agencies to resolve complex pastoral and socio-economic challenges, ultimately helping young people achieve their full potential.

Located in Leeds, this secondary school is a welcoming, inclusive, and forward-thinking educational institution. Deeply rooted in its local area, the school is dedicated to cultivating a safe, high-achieving, and nurturing environment where every student is treated as an individual. Backed by a passionate senior leadership team and a robust pastoral framework, the school puts community engagement at the forefront of its mission. Staff here benefit from a highly collaborative culture, continuous professional development, and a shared dedication to reducing educational inequalities for young people in the region.

Key Requirements

• Proven experience working within an educational, social care, or youth outreach setting.
• Enhanced DBS: A valid Enhanced DBS clearance registered on the Update Service (or a willingness for one).
• Thorough understanding of current UK safeguarding procedures, child protection legislation, and school attendance regulations.
• Eligibility to Work: Valid legal entitlement to work full-time in the UK.

Key Skills

• Active Listening: The capacity to fully comprehend the complex underlying issues faced by families and students without judgement.
• Data Literacy: Proficiency in interpreting complex attendance metrics to identify early warning signs of disengagement.
• Advanced Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, tailored appropriately for youth, parents, or executives.
• Conflict Resolution: The skill to navigate defensive conversations and steer them toward productive, child-centred outcomes.
• Empathy and Rapport Building: An innate ability to forge genuine, trusting relationships with hard-to-reach young people.
• Resilience: The mental strength to handle systemic challenges and persistent barriers without losing professional drive.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor, analyse, and track daily student attendance and punctuality data to identify patterns of persistent absence.
• Conduct home visits and community outreach to engage directly with parents, guardians, and families regarding attendance concerns.
• Develop, implement, and review tailored attendance action plans for individual high-risk students.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the school, families, and external support networks (such as social services or local authorities).
• Organise and lead structured meetings with parents to discuss barriers to school attendance and find collaborative solutions.
• Deliver targeted small-group interventions or one-to-one mentoring sessions to rebuild student confidence and encourage re-engagement.
• Maintain highly accurate, detailed, and legally compliant case files and intervention records on the school's internal database.
• Collaborate closely with Heads of Year, the safeguarding team, and SEND coordinators.