Job Title – Provision Manager

Mid Essex - Primarily Brentwood, but some South Essex (Basildon) work possible.

Essex school term-time (39 weeks per annum +2 weeks work from home (if required)). Permanent position.

Salary - £24,200 actual (plus work from home and Mobile Phone Use monthly bonuses) - paid in 12 equal payments.

This hybrid job involves working on site at school’s premises as well as on a work-from-home basis.

Overall purpose of the job

Aquinas Provision Managers are responsible for the day-to-day service delivery for our partner schools. The aim of the role is to act early to help remove any barriers that children and young people may be facing that restricts them from regularly accessing their full time educational entitlement. There are always underlying reasons why children and young people miss school, this job is to uncover those causes and remove them

Main Accountabilities

The role can be split into four equally important aspects -

1) Delivering each school’s ‘Support First Offer’ (the right support at the the right time for the right pupils) involves,

• identifying low attendees within various priority attendance bandings,
• identifying the appropriate measures to facilitate the removal of the barriers to an individual’s regular school attendance,
• the review and escalation of casework from early help to formalised support and enforcement where necessary or suggest alternative measures,
• ensuring accurate and up-to-date records are kept,
• preparing documentation for the issuing of Penalty Notices / Referral to The Local Authority where appropriate,
• Conducting home visit assessments and home welfare visits where necessary,
• Contributing to multi-agency/multi-disciplinary meetings, groups, interventions, plans and strategies as necessary.

2) Equal to the routine running of the Support First Offer, Aquinas Provision Managers take an active strategic role with regards to,

• Devising and presenting creative initiatives to the Head Teacher or Attendance Lead based on any area of need identified from your whole school and group data evaluation. Measuring the outcomes of such initiatives,
• Advising schools in developing and maintaining a robust attendance strategy and policy for their school,
• Identifying and delivering key training and up-skilling of School’s Attendance Officers on an ongoing basis,
• Actively evaluating and reviewing whole company policies, procedures and practices.
• Maintaining effective liaison with other services in the children and families services, as well as with other services and agencies concerned with the education and welfare of children, including during Ofsted Inspections and school governor meetings.
• Pursue business expansion leads across the County at the direction / agreement of the Managing Director.

3) Provide expert advice and guidance to allocated schools and Aquinas team members upon their request or proactively when felt appropriate or necessary regarding,

• All issues that impact children and young people’s ability and opportunities to regularly access their educational entitlement,
• Relevant legislation, guidance and Local Authority advice and requirements,
• NHS and Public Health guidance on exclusion periods for illnesses,
• Safeguarding and missing child matters, fulfilling The Local Authority’s requirements in locating Children Missing Education (CME) and/or advising schools on the referral process,

4) Become a Police Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS),

• Upon completion of the national CSAS training, issuing parents with Notices to Improve and Penalty Notices in line with Essex Code of Conduct where appropriate.
• To refer cases to The Local Authority Attendance Compliance Team for consideration on enforcement actions and completing recommended actions within expected timescales.
• Be prepared to complete Section 9 witness statements and to appear as a witness for Magistrates’ Court in relation to proceedings under the Education Act 1996 for irregular school attendance

Person Specification:

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of current education issues - Desirable

Understanding of the issues which may cause or contribute to poor school attendance - Essential

Knowledge of the legislation relating to Education and Children - Essential

Knowledge of safeguarding procedures - Essential

Knowledge of how schools and education welfare services function - Desirable

SKILLS

IT literate – including Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets…) - Essential

Working knowledge of common school information management system(s) (SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom…) - Desirable

Ability to produce accurate and concise written reports, etc - Essential

Effective interpersonal skills - Essential

Ability to work individually and as a team member and the flexibility to manage competing pressures and demands - Essential

Presentation skills - Desirable

To be emotionally resilient and to be able to work in a challenging environment. Ability to constructively challenge differing viewpoints. - Essential

Ability to travel around local area, across Essex on occasion, and sometimes out of county - Essential

EXPERIENCE

Experience of working as an Education Welfare / Attendance Officer - Desirable

Experience of working within a school setting - Desirable

Experience analysing and presenting data in a user-friendly format - Essential

Experience chairing multi-disciplinary meetings with professionals and public - Desirable

An Enhanced Disclosure (DBS) is required for this post.

This job involves working on site at school’s premises as well as on a work-from-home basis.

Aquinas is an equal opportunities employer.