About Us

The Education Welfare Service is a small team with a big reach. Our team is experienced and well-regarded; staff retention is very high and opportunities like this are very rare.

The Education Welfare Service performs a number of statutory functions, including legal intervention for poor school attendance, as well as an early intervention trading account whereby schools can buy in casework support.

Multi-agency partnership working and early intervention are our strengths. We know our schools and we know our business.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide high quality school improvement support in accordance with the Department for Education (DfE) Working Together to Improve Attendance guidance.
• Act as the single point of contact for non-trading account schools and provides a duty service via established or newly created means, for example, telephone helpline, generic inbox, for the purpose of providing information, advice and guidance on attendance matters to schools, settings and professionals working to improve attendance.
• Negotiate with headteachers and relevant school staff in allocated schools and professionals a timetable of Targeting Support Meetings or similar multi-agency meetings (team around the school, inclusion panels, etc) at times convenient for the school, in accordance with DfE guidance.
• Support schools to analyse data in order to create a Working Together to Improve Attendance Plan, or similar attendance plans, and monitors progress via Targeting Support Meetings or similar school panels and forums.
• Participate in cross-departmental and cross-service panels and forums, etc, relevant to the job role as and when required.
• Check and monitor the attendance of pupils, particularly those persistently and severely absent, in conjunction with the headteacher and relevant school staff, as well as professionals working with pupils to improve attendance.

Working Pattern

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home (where possible), compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 31 paid days plus 8 bank holidays (pro rata) and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

The Role

Do you see yourself promoting good attendance in schools borough-wide?

Would you like the opportunity to shape and develop an effective model of policy and practice to improve attendance?

Would you like to join a council that promotes positive outcomes for children?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

The Education Welfare Service is recruiting to a new Education Welfare Officer role created especially to meet the new expectations of local authorities to work together to improve attendance across schools in the borough.

Further information

Contact details

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Mark Holliday by email in the first instance: Mark.Holliday@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils