Attendance Officer – Pupil Referral Unit

Location: Newham
Contract: Full-time
Start Date: ASAP / September 2026
Sector: Pupil Referral Unit / Alternative Provision - Secondary 

*Please be aware to be considered for this role you must have a full clean drivers licence with access to a car that is insured as you will be expected to conduct homevisits*

We are currently seeking an experienced and committed Attendance Officer to join a specialist Pupil Referral Unit setting in East London.

This is an important role focused on improving attendance, reducing persistent absence and removing the barriers that prevent vulnerable young people from accessing education. The successful candidate will combine strong knowledge of attendance procedures and statutory requirements with excellent pastoral, mentoring and relationship-building skills.

The role would suit someone who understands that poor attendance is often rooted in wider emotional, social, behavioural or family circumstances and who can build trusting relationships with young people and their families to create meaningful, sustainable improvements.

The Role

As Attendance Officer, you will take responsibility for monitoring and improving attendance across the provision, with a particular focus on pupils experiencing persistent or severe absence.

You will work closely with pupils, parents/carers, school staff, safeguarding professionals, external agencies and the Local Authority to identify barriers to attendance and put effective support and intervention in place.

A key part of the role will involve direct frontline engagement, including mentoring pupils, contacting families and undertaking targeted home visits where appropriate.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor and analyse attendance data to identify patterns of absence, persistent absence and emerging concerns.
• Develop and implement targeted attendance interventions for individual pupils.
• Manage a caseload of vulnerable and persistently absent pupils, maintaining accurate records and intervention plans.
• Build positive, trusting relationships with young people, particularly those with SEMH and complex needs.
• Identify emotional, social, sensory, behavioural and systemic barriers affecting attendance.
• Deliver appropriate 1:1 pastoral and attendance interventions.
• Maintain regular communication with parents/carers and provide practical and emotional support where appropriate.
• Make telephone calls and undertake targeted home visits to engage pupils and families.
• Facilitate attendance meetings and agree appropriate targets and support plans.
• Work closely with safeguarding teams and external professionals to ensure pupil welfare and attendance concerns are appropriately addressed.
• Liaise with the Local Authority Attendance Targeted Support Service and other relevant agencies.
• Support statutory attendance processes, including evidence gathering and referrals where voluntary interventions have not been successful.
• Contribute to multi-agency meetings and safeguarding processes.
• Monitor Children Missing Education procedures and make appropriate referrals in line with statutory requirements.
• Maintain accurate attendance records and ensure intervention stages are fully documented.
• Produce attendance reports and provide updates to senior leaders and relevant stakeholders.
• Support the provision in maintaining compliance with statutory attendance guidance and internal attendance procedures.

About You

We are looking for an individual who is resilient, empathetic and confident working with young people who may have experienced significant barriers to education.

You will need to be comfortable balancing a supportive, relationship-based approach with the ability to have challenging conversations with pupils and families when necessary.

The successful candidate will ideally have:

• Experience working in school, PRU, alternative provision, safeguarding, pastoral or attendance settings.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of school attendance procedures.
• Experience working with pupils with SEMH, behavioural or complex needs.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience working with parents/carers and external agencies.
• Confidence undertaking home visits and assertive outreach.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding and child protection.
• Experience maintaining accurate case records and working with attendance data.
• The ability to manage a caseload effectively and prioritise competing demands.
• A calm, patient and non-judgemental approach.
• The ability to build positive relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
• Strong organisational and administrative skills.
• An understanding of trauma-informed and relationship-based approaches to supporting young people.

Experience of working with statutory attendance processes, local authority attendance services or legal intervention procedures would be highly advantageous.

Why Apply?

This is an opportunity to take on a high-impact pastoral role where your work can directly influence the educational engagement, wellbeing and future outcomes of some of the most vulnerable young people.

You will be joining a specialist environment where staff take a holistic and relationship-based approach, recognising that improving attendance often starts with understanding the individual needs and circumstances of each young person.

If you are passionate about removing barriers to education, building meaningful relationships with young people and making a measurable difference to attendance and engagement, we would love to hear from you.

Apply now to be considered for this Attendance Officer opportunity.