Education Welfare Officer

Job Description

Job Category : Education (qualified)
Location : London Borough of Hillingdon
Hours Per Week : 36.00
Start Date : Immediate start
Start Time : 09:00
End Time :17:00
Salary: £16.29
The Education Welfare Officer will enable pupils to receive maximum benefit from the education provision made available to them by assisting their regular attendance at school through:

– Supporting individual pupils and their parents
– Enabling effective communication between parents, carers, guardians and school
– Monitoring school and pupil attendance data to provide support and focus efforts to unblock wider barriers to attendance
– Helping allocated schools develop effective policies and procedures on attendance through termly conversations with school attendance leads sing data to identify pupils and cohorts at risk of poor attendance.

Key responsibilities:

– To develop, implement and review Attendance Plans for pupils and their families designed to help them overcome non-attendance difficulties.
– To engage parents in attendance contacts and in formal meetings regarding poor attendance.
– To deliver interventions directly to young people and / or the family unit and where required broker services, as part of the plan, from partner agencies, voluntary or community groups.
– To be persistent in the engagement of families or individuals who may be resistant by using assertive, creative and practical engagement strategies.
– To identify and work with the school and the family of pupils who persistently and severely absent, or at risk of becoming so.
– Where required, to provide families with advice and guidance on the implications of non-school attendance and contributing to the process of applying due process, including legal proceedings in the event that statutory participation levels are not maintained.
– To work and maintain effective communications with partner agencies and support family members in accessing and engaging with universal and targeted services as required.
– To attend case conferences, statutory reviews, court and other meetings as required.
– To maintain timely and concise electronic case records and written reports that evidence the work undertaken and the progress achieved.
– When required, take statutory action against parents using penalty fines and preparing witness statements for the Family Proceedings or Magistrates Court.
– To review termly attendance data with allocated schools to identify action to improve attendance for individual pupils and meet school attendance targets.

1. QUALIFICATIONS

5 GCSEs including Maths and English or NVQ level 3 in an appropriate field
A recognised qualification in a related profession e.g. Education, youth work, child and family development
2. STATUTORY or ROLE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Full UK driving licence and use of own vehicle

Ability to undertake occasional evening and weekend work

Willing to take majority of annual leave during school holidays.

3. EXPERIENCE

Experience of working as an education welfare officer / school attendance officer / equivalent, or direct face to face working with pupils and parents in an educational or social care setting for a minimum of one year

4. KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

To have a clear understanding of safeguarding and protecting families from risk and harm
Good self-organisational skills, able to work independently and as part of a team
Knowledge and understanding of the problems and difficulties faced by families and the ability to help them find constructive solutions.
A broad knowledge and understanding of Social care, Education and health legislation and services, and how they can support families
Specific knowledge of legislation and practice in relation to children and young people’s participation in education
Knowledge of child development and needs

Able to form and maintain appropriate professional relationships and boundaries with children, young people and families to ensure effective engagement in agreed family interventions
Able to be persistent, creative and tenacious in engaging with children, young people and families who present challenging behaviour and may be resistant to change
A good understanding of how to work effectively with other professionals and service providers in a multi-agency environment
Ability to use Microsoft office packages to keep clear, written and electronic records and provide monitoring information as required to a high standard.
Demonstrable ability to deliver successful interventions for families with complex needs that deliver outcomes