Attendance Officer

**Summary**
Do you have experience overseeing attendance at a school level? We are looking for an Attendance Officer to join our dedicated academy team at Harris Academy Clapham. This role is likely to suit an individual looking to develop in a school environment with attendance related experience.
**About Us**
The vision of Harris Academy Clapham is a simple one. From our opening in September 2020, our academy is a place where **‘everything is possible'**.

The **Clapham curriculum** is designed to meet the needs, aspirations and abilities of every one of our students. Our aim is to improve their life chances and enable them to make a positive contribution to the city and world in which they live.
- Subject specific knowledge and skills come first
- Embedding and building on the basics - ensuring that every student acquires the vocabulary, literacy and numeracy skills to enable them to fully participate in society
- The curriculum must be rigorous and relevant by engaging with the best of what has been thought and said and acknowledging that knowledge is fluid and can be contested
- The curriculum must prepare for life in modern Britain and beyond, and enable Clapham students to understand their rights and fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act.

Through the Clapham academic, enrichment and pastoral curriculum we expect our students to develop powerful knowledge and the following values and character attributes that will enable them to achieve our vision that ‘Everything is Possible'.

**Endeavour for excellence**
- Learning to work hard and **relish challenge**.
- Learning to **never give up**.
- Learning to take **sensible risks**.
- Learning to always **strive for the best** for themselves and each other.

**Integrity and honesty**
- Always acting with **kindness**.
- Treating others the way they would like to be treated.

**Self-belief with a global view**
- Growing to have the** agency** to **achieve their ambitions** for themselves and the wider world.

Our staff are supported in their work and in developing their future careers via:

- A centralised behaviour system, with each year group supported by non-teaching pastoral leaders
- A programme of instructional coaching, supported by the Step Lab platform
- Access to a wide range of National Professional Qualifications delivered by the Institute of Teaching
- Harris Federation professional development training days and networking support.

**Main Areas of Responsibility**
Your responsibilities will include:

- Assisting ALG in the management and development of attendance and punctuality policies
- Daily monitoring and follow-up of attendance and punctuality
- Participating on late desk and follow up detentions
- Contacting parents/carers of students absent at agreed time and recording reasons for absence if given
- Daily monitoring and early calls on the attendance of children in care or students on the vulnerable list
- Making home visits with the Academy welfare manager as required
- Sending letters to parents regarding attendance matters as requested by the Academy Welfare Manager
- Ensuring the smooth operation of the computerised registration system
- Ensuring daily attendance information is entered accurately onto the system
- Establishing the reason for absences including telephone calls, letters and home visits
- Preparing and distributing attendance and punctuality certificates
- Following up on poor attendance or punctuality
- Signing students in and out of the Academy outside normal start and finish times
- Liaising with the Educational Welfare Officer to ensure prompt, consistent and rigorous intervention with poor attendance
- Monitoring student attendance together with students' progress and performance in relation to targets set for each individual
- Dealing efficiently and effectively with referrals on attendance concerns
- Alerting appropriate staff to problems experienced by students and making recommendations as to how these may be resolved
- Communicating with the parents of students and with persons or bodies outside the Academy concerned with the welfare of individual students
- Meeting with LAC students weekly and pass on any relevant information regarding their welfare

**Qualifications & Experience**
We would like to hear from you if you have:

- Qualifications to degree standard or equivalent
- Sound Knowledge of Microsoft software
- Knowledge of Management Information Systems for input and export of student attendance data, including training in relation to attendance and report generation
- Knowledge of attendance policies and procedures
- Knowledge of the range of agencies that work with students and their families
- Basic knowledge of first aid; e.g. emergency first aid course
- Knowledge of a range of attendance codes and when they can be used
- Knowledge of many of the social issues facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Three years' experience of working in an inner-city school or educational e