Senior Administrator

**History of Service**

DFE commissioned Barnardo's to deliver **targeted, responsive, one-to-one support for persistently and severely absent pupils.**

The first year pilot was in Middlesbrough and this has now extended out to include four other areas, Doncaster, Knowsley, Salford and Stoke in Trent.

**This project is currently funded until August 2025**

If you have:

- Proven substantial office experience
- The ability to manage workload efficiently to meet deadlines
- Well developed numeracy and literacy skills
- Experience of operating financial systems including petty cash, budget monitoring and control then we would love to hear from you.

**Objectives of Service**

Improving school attendance, especially for persistently absent pupils and the most vulnerable is currently a priority for all. The reasons pupils become persistently (missing over 10% of possible sessions) and severely (missing over 50% of possible sessions) absent from school are complex and include:

- Barriers from mental & physical health e.g. short term illness
- Academic challenges e.g. low aspirations and confidence
- Social and behavioural challenges e.g. bullying
- Barriers from home environment e.g. housing/financial barriers
- Travel e.g. term time holidays

The pandemic has exacerbated these issues, creating ongoing challenges for schools and local authority services. Poor attendance can lead to a range of negative impacts on attainment and wider life chances, as well as involvement in risky behaviours. Regular attendance is vital for maximising the benefits of education, and is also beneficial for a child's well-being, mental health, and long-term development.

The Watchtower Project aims to:

- Improve overall attendance levels and engagement with education for all pupils who are participating.
- Developed our understanding of effective practice and different delivery models when delivering 1-1 support to pupils who are persistent or severely absent.
- Improve the evidence base about how best to support individual pupils to regularly attend school through a rigorous evaluation of this intervention

Pay & Reward Framework
- We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people._
- For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role._

**Benefits**:
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.
- Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
- 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
- The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
- A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
- Service related sick pay from day 1
- Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
- Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
- Cycle2work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
- 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
- Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
- Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
- Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

**Salary**: £26,520.00-£32,604.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Additional leave
- Bereavement leave
- Company pension
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Sick pay

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: 18527