What skills and experience we're looking for
Job Purpose:
• To be the Attendance Officer for Queen Mary’s High School.
• To offer support to the pastoral team and liaise with students, parents, school staff and external agencies to offer the best possible care and outcomes for all our students.
• To foster a safe and friendly environment for students, parents and staff to ensure positive collaborative working and family engagement.
Attendance and Punctuality Support:
• To record and follow up on all absences from school.
• To keep absence records up to date re. absence explanations.
• To check accuracy and correct coding on sessional and lesson registers as well as chasing up missing marks.
• To liaise with the Assistant Headteacher (Community and Inclusion) in implementing the school’s policies around attendance and punctuality.
• To produce and analyse reports on attendance/punctuality figures using GO4Schools and Inventry to raise attendance/punctuality concerns with Heads of Year/Assistant Headteacher.
• To meet with school staff to identify individual problems and possible solutions relating to punctuality and attendance.
• To support Heads of Year in the chasing-up of absences and persistent lateness, through the sending of standard letters, telephoning, texting and/or parents and other stakeholders.
• To work with the pastoral team, students and their families to help address attendance and punctuality issues.
• To ensure all late arrivals to school are challenged, recorded and monitored. To manage the process of organising late detentions and further consequences for non-attendees.
• To process and coordinate the administration of all requests and associated responses for student leave of absence – in consultation with Heads of Year and the Associate Headteacher.
• To organise praise cards and certificates for both 100% and improved attendance.
• To liaise as required with any Alternative Provision placements re student attendance.
• To liaise with the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) and Assistant Headteacher regularly, prepare required paperwork and present information as required to enable the school to meet its statutory responsibilities. This will include requesting penalty fine notices, and, if appropriate, the completion of referral forms.
• To transfer write-ups from the EWO to CPOMS to track student interventions.
• To record and track all levels of intervention re attendance and punctuality for each student.
• Following training, undertake home visits or meetings in school for persistent absentees to assess reasons for absence and facilitate a return to education.
• To acquire and maintain a working knowledge of the statutory framework relating to school attendance, child employment, child protection and special needs in order to be able to offer informed advice to parents, school staff, governors and others.
Additional Duties:
• To ensure the production of fire lists and co-ordination of reporting system for fire drills.
• To provide school reception cover and support as required.
• To administer the ‘ParentMail’ text message/email service.
• To follow up non-attendance at Parents’ Evenings.
• To undertake any other task deemed necessary by the Associate Headteacher or their PA that is commensurate with the level of this post to help support pastoral care, teaching and learning within the school.
This job description is not exhaustive nor exclusive; it should be seen as enabling rather than restrictive and will be subject to regular review. It does not constitute a fixed list of tasks. It reflects the core priorities of the role which are subject to change depending upon the changing needs of the school and of the students.
What the school offers its staff
Queen Mary’s High School is a diverse, busy and happy school. Care for the individual lies at the heart of our provision. We are not a school where one size fits all, but we are a school in which diversity thrives, is encouraged and is celebrated. Whilst academic achievement is a key part of our school culture, we recognise that there is much more to learning than that which takes place in the classroom. Our students benefit from and enjoy a range of extracurricular activities. This includes participation in our competitive House system, opportunities in sport, music and drama, residential trips and visits along with a range of other clubs and societies. Sixth Form students play a key role in the life of the school through their leadership roles and capacity as role models for our younger students. We have a long and established tradition of educating the thinkers, doers and change makers of the future and have been doing so for over 125 years. Queen Mary’s High School is a school which is proud of its heritage and tradition whilst simultaneously being committed to developing staff and students who are outward facing, innovative and ready to take on a challenge.
Queen Mary’s High School has a dedicated, expert and conscientious teaching staff, ably supported by superb associate staff. Our ethos and values are demonstrated by the endeavour of all in our school community, who work together to ensure the highest standards of academic achievement, and to provide excellent pastoral care that supports, nurtures and empowers our students in achieving this excellence. Partnerships between school, parents and pupils enable examination success and wide-ranging life enriching opportunities outside of the classroom prepare and equip our students to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving world.
Queen Mary’s High School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people as required under the Education Act and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
You are required to:
• Uphold the school's policy in respect of child protection and safeguarding matters
• Have commitment to the school's equality policy
• Ensure any extra-curricular activities will be free from partisan, political and religious view. (Where political issues are discussed, a balanced view is always presented).
The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Pre-employment checks include an enhanced disclosure and barring service check as a requirement of this post. Our Safeguarding Policy is available on our website, and we encourage applicants to review it before applying. This position is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further details regarding this check are available from the school or by visiting
Commitment to safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding at QMHS. Our school’s aims and vision statement very clearly states that we strive to ensure that the individual needs of all our highly able students are met. At QMHS and across the Mercian Trust we recognise that the emotional wellbeing and positive mental health of all members of the community is integral to our continued success. We have built and continue to strengthen a community of support for all stakeholders which includes pupils, staff and parents/carers.