Kent PRU and Attendance Service (KPAS) Attendance Officer

Role Responsibility

Term Time Only – 40 Weeks per year

An exciting opportunity has emerged to recruit an Attendance Officer to join the Kent PRU and Attendance Service (KPAS), a local authority service based within the Children, Young People and Education directorate of Kent County Council.

The subject of school attendance has never been higher profile at a national and local level, and the service has been working robustly to ensure the expectations for local authorities in the Department for Education’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ statutory guidance are successfully delivered.  

You will be the link for a group of allocated primary, secondary and special schools, working in partnership with staff, families across the Ashford, Dover and Folkestone districts. You will closely collaborate with a range of KCC services and external partners and organisations with the priority of reducing levels of persistent and severe absence for pupils and wider cohorts of pupils.

You will already have knowledge and experience in the education field, working in or alongside schools. Being highly motivated, willing to learn quickly and self-sufficient are key qualities sought. You will be a confident team player, showing resilience when challenging situations arise and ultimately represent our organisation’s values with the highest level of professionalism.

Representing the local authority and contributing within a wide range of forums such as Attendance Improvement Meetings, District Contextual Safeguarding Meetings and Child Protection Conferences are key duties. You will be skillful in balancing advice and guidance with professional challenge where required to ensure statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education is followed.

There will be occasions where you will lead on investigations in cases of parents who fail to secure their children’s regular school attendance in accordance with statutory legislation, which may lead to legal intervention being pursued by the Local Authority in the Magistrates Courts. Therefore, attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines are essential requirements. 

This role will require  regular visits to schools and family homes, therefore there will be an expectation to travel across a wide geographical area at various times of the day, and on occasion, outside of core business hours.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Interviews will be held week commencing 25^th November 2024.  

Contact Details

Lee Kennedy | Area Manager (South Kent) | Kent PRU and Attendance Service (KPAS) | Children, Young People & Education | Kroner House, Eurogate Business Park, Ashford, TN24 8XU | T: 03000 418658 | lee.kennedy@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let’s talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.