County Attendance Officer

Overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a County Attendance Officer to join us at Buckinghamshire Council.

The successful post holder will be responsible for working with schools and families to provide authoritative advice, support and challenge to promote good attendance, punctuality, reduce unauthorised absences, and safeguard vulnerable children and young people of statutory school age.

Please note that this opportunity will be predominantly supporting in Aylesbury and the north of the county.

This position is part-time 22.2 hours per week.

Pro-rata salary: £22,519.80 - £23,601.60

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

The main responsibilities of this role include:

• Undertake casework in relation to irregular school attendance.
• To instigate legal action in cases of irregular school attendance where case work has not resulted in an improvement in school attendance.
• Support the use of Fixed Penalty notices to improve school attendance.
• Give expert advice, guidance, and challenge to schools to support increased whole school attendance and ensure compliance with current legislation.
• To use appropriate skills to undertake joint work with other agencies to achieve positive outcomes and that children and young people are kept safe.
• To keep appropriate case files and provide expert evidence to support cases which might result in legal action.
• Keep up to date with current guidance and research and communicate this effectively via training both internally and externally.
• Plan and organise work to ensure it is delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Please see the attached job summary for further detail.

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

The successful applicant will need to be able to demonstrate:

• Experience working with children, young people and family services with associated knowledge and experience of child safeguarding, mental health and working with families with complex needs.
• Knowledge of school attendance legislation, legal processes and other relevant government policy and legislation.
• Ability to engage with children, young people, families, and external partners effectively and purposefully.
• Proven ability to influence and challenge to secure positive outcomes for hard to reach and vulnerable children.
• Proven ability for problem-solving with an understanding of the thresholds for escalation.
• Examples of ability to prioritise and time manage complex cases alongside other competing demands.
• Ability to use data and ICT systems to a high level for recording and interrogation of data.

Please note that for this opportunity it is essential that the successful post holder holds a full UK driving licence and has access to their own transport.

Please see attached job summary for further detail.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact James Fowler at [email protected]

Closing date: 23:59 Sunday 13th April 2025.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Ensuring that children and young people in Buckinghamshire reach their potential is a primary focus within our Education service. It’s essential that we provide inclusive and life-long learning opportunities for all of our young people - so we look to raise standards, attainment and aspirations in a number of ways.

Our key priorities include: improving the quality and timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans and the support families of children with SEND receive; reducing the number of exclusions both permanent and fixed term; and providing the children of Buckinghamshire with the highest quality education possible.

We aim to provide the right support, at the right time for families requiring non-statutory intervention, and provide sufficient, high quality early years and school places for children in Buckinghamshire. Despite Buckinghamshire having a higher percentage of good or outstanding Early Years providers and schools than national averages, we are not complacent.

We are keen to strengthen the services we deliver to provide the children of Buckinghamshire the highest quality education possible.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/