Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form is currently looking to appoint an Attendance and Safeguarding Officer to join its thriving sixth form community.
About Us
Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form is a unique sixth form established in 2018 to provide an outstanding vocational education and preparation for skills-based work or transition to university for students in Croydon and the surrounding boroughs.
Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form caters for students who may not suit the traditional pathways at post-16. With small class sizes and strong pastoral support, we offer excellent, focused vocational options up to level 3 as well as the opportunity to take or resit GCSEs that students need to progress further – whether they choose to progress into a career or higher education.
Our academy offers pathways in Construction, Science, Art, Business, Media Studies and Health and Social Care for students choosing a vocational pathway, and a curriculum that will challenge and inspire them to develop the skills and confidence they need to compete successfully for jobs in their chosen vocation.
Much of London and the South East, is undergoing a huge programme of construction and regeneration with the potential to benefit the area for generations to come. With a focus on hard skills and employability, Harris Professional Skills Sixth Form helps students develop the skills they need to be who they want to be.
Main Areas of Responsibility
Main areas of responsibility:
- Oversee Educational Welfare across the academy.
- Manage a caseload of ‘at risk’ students, where attendance falls below 85% and implement strategies to improve attendance. Educational Welfare Officer to ensure that prompt, consistent and rigorous intervention with poor attendance is robust.
- Have responsibility for monitoring the attendance of most vulnerable students at the academy, including Looked after students, those on the child protection register, children identified as being in need either by Academy staff or external agencies.
- Manage the process of addressing poor attendance across the academy. Organising meetings as appropriate for vulnerable students ensuring all external agencies and relevant staff are invited.
- Representing the academy at external meetings eg. Social Services Case Conferences , Child in Need Meetings, LAC Reviews.
- Line Manage the Attendance Officer; managing and monitoring workload, setting targets and developing strategy within the welfare team.
- Liaise with Academy Leadership Group to address any attendance or welfare concerns.
- To communicate effectively with all external agencies including possible alternative providers e .g. Special schools, LEA and other external agencies including CAMHs, Social Services, Police etc.To ensure effective communication/consultation as appropriate with the parents of students through phone, letter and home visits as relevant, ensuring student contracts are agreed and monitored.
- Liaise with the local authority when cases of poor attendance reach the level of legal intervention.
Qualifications & Experience
We are looking for:
- Three years’ experience of working in an inner city school or educational
establishment in a pastoral capacity - Experience of dealing successfully with a range of issues influencing poor attendance
- Experience of working with staff to ensure excellent standards of attendance and punctuality are maintained
- Experience of working with families
- Experience of working with challenging students and parents, and finding ways in which we can meet their needs more successfully
- Experience of working with students from a range of ethnic backgrounds
Personal Skills & Qualities
- Full working knowledge of relevant policies/codes of practice
- Understanding of principles of student development and learning processes
- Ability to plan effective actions for pupils at risk of underachieving Effective use of ICT
- Understanding of a range of welfare issues that may be affecting students and their families.
- Well-developed interpersonal skills to be able to relate well to a wide range of people
- Work constructively as part of a team whilst being able to demonstrate initiative.
- Effective communication skills
- Have commitment to own personal and professional development
Next Steps
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us via e-mail, or call to arrange a conversation.
Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. You will need this when completing your application.
Please note: we may hold interviews as and when applications are received and we reserve the right to offer to a candidate prior to the closing date. We only accept applications submitted online via our careers website and which are completed before the closing deadline. With this in mind, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible and advise you check the job information as per the listing on our careers site.
Rewards & Benefits
Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.
We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.
In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.
Safeguarding Notice
The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.
Equal Opportunities
The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.
As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.
For more information, or to apply, please click here.
