Principal Education Welfare Officer

Job description

Contract terms

Starting salary: PO6 (£48,867 – £51,903)
Work Location: 48 Station Road, London, N22 7TY (Hybrid working)
Hours per week: 36 per week
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: Sunday, 8th October 2023 at 23:59

About Haringey

About us Haringey Council is one of 32 in London. Haringey is an extremely diverse borough, and the Council has set clear ambitious objectives through its borough plan to make Haringey a better place to live, encourage investment and create opportunities that all can share. Haringey’s vision for the future is one of sustainable growth, in housing and jobs and on helping our residents and businesses take advantage of that growth. We have got huge ambitions for Haringey. As the shape of local government continues to change, we are determined to rise to the challenge and find new ways to ensure that our residents enjoy the best opportunities in life. Working at Haringey gives you the opportunity to play a part in meeting those ambitions on behalf of everyone who calls the borough their home.

About the role

Working in Haringey is all about making a difference to people’s everyday lives, making the environment in which they live a better place, and giving them the tools, they need to improve their own lives and play an active role in the community.

We are determined to rise to the challenge and find new ways to ensure that our residents enjoy the best opportunities in life – through excellent education, training, access to facilities and community empowerment. Working at Haringey gives you the opportunity to play a part in meeting those ambitions on behalf of everyone who calls the borough their home.

We are excited to be recruiting an experienced senior education welfare officer to lead our Attendance and Welfare Team and help deliver on our core values.

The team delivers high quality advice, guidance and statutory intervention to schools, lead professionals and families. Our education welfare officers use their expert understanding of the complex and multiple drivers for poor attendance and behaviour to work with children and families and the systems around them to improve school attendance.

The Principal Education Welfare Officer will have a crucial role in discharging the local authority’s statutory responsibilities with relation to school attendance and inclusion. They will be the strategic lead for improving attendance across all schools in the borough, including the reduction of persistent absence. They will support families and professionals through the legal framework and lead on the use of parental responsibility measures, including penalty notices, parenting contracts and where there is no alternative, through prosecution or application for an Education Supervision Order at court.

About you

You will be a skilled practitioner who is able to move beyond process and procedure, demonstrating a dynamic and evidence-based approach to improving school attendance. You will have successful leadership and management experience and will be able to evidence the positive impact you have made. You will have proven skills in balancing the appropriate use of authority and challenge with transparency and empathy, working in collaboration with parents and carers to find alternatives to legal action. You will have a sound knowledge of safeguarding and the risks associated with school non-attendance. Your passion for making a difference to those young people most at risk will be evident at all times, including actively addressing the impact of disadvantage, discrimination, and disproportionality in all you do. You will have the flexibility to adapt to a changing legal and statutory landscape, delivering on new requirements and expectations with creativity and purpose. This is an excellent opportunity for a skilled professional to be part of our continued mission to improve school attendance and promote the wellbeing, safety, and life chances of children to ensure a fairer future for all.

Working for Haringey

At Haringey Council we are committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included, and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce so welcome applications from all ethnicities and communities so that we continue to make a difference to our residents and community. Our benefits package includes a leave entitlement of 31 days + bank holidays, potential hybrid working opportunities, health and wellbeing support, a generous local government pension scheme and a range of discount schemes across leisure and culture that provide both financial and money-saving discounts.