Trust Attendance Improvement Manager

Do you want to join a team that provides outstanding leadership, strategic direction and support to some of the best schools in the country? Do you want to play your part in delivering outstanding learning and teaching to young people in disadvantaged communities? If so, joining the Star team might just be the best career move you ever make.

About Star Central

Star Central, which is based at our head office in Blackburn, Lancashire, provides leadership, strategic direction and support to Star Academies, Star Institute and our schools.

The Star Central team includes experts from a range of professional backgrounds, who work together to provide an outstanding support service to the Star community. We support our schools to provide educational and operational excellence and to cultivate a strong Star community, with the aim of nurturing today’s young people and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders.

Who we’re looking for

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced Attendance Manager or Education Welfare Officer. As a leading multi-academy trust, involved in the DfE’s national hub programme, Star Academies is looking to build on its exceptionally high standards of attendance by recruiting an exceptional colleague to work as part of an expert Central Attendance Team. You’ll work under the leadership of our Attendance Improvement Lead, but play a pivotal role in providing schools, mainly situated in the north of England, with the intensive support, training and coaching needed to improved attendance and reduced persistent and severe absence rates for trust schools where pupil attendance is not yet fully secure.

The role includes helping school leaders to develop and maintain a positive attendance culture, identifying pupils early if there are emergent issues around absence and supporting and challenging both pupils and their parents to unlock the pupil’s academic and social potential where attendance does not meet expectations. You’ll work in schools regularly, so will need to be flexible with your travel arrangements but on occasion can work from the Central Office or from home providing attendance support services across the full range of trust schools.

You will have:

• A degree or substantial demonstrable experience in a relevant, related role.
• Experience of tracking and analysing attendance within an educational setting.
• Experience of successfully implementing attendance interventions to secure improved outcomes.
• Up to date knowledge of attendance management, DfE guidance and initiatives surrounding improving attendance.
• A profound understanding of the elements which comprise effective attendance management.

About Star Academies

Star Academies is a high-performing multi-academy trust that runs more than 30 primary and secondary schools. We are a values-based organisation that works to improve the life chances of young people in areas of social and economic deprivation to help them succeed at the highest levels of education, employment and the professions. Every single day you’ll be rewarded with the opportunity to shape a young person’s future - our STAR values embody what we believe is needed to succeed.

Professional development is key to our ongoing success, so we continually invest in our employees through our professional development hub, Star Talent Academy. With a wealth of training, mentoring and progression opportunities across a large, growing group of academies, joining our team of leading education experts could propel your career to the next level. 

We can also offer you a range of rewards and benefits, including competitive salaries and pension schemes, generous holiday entitlements and healthcare cash plans.

Find out more

If you would like more details or would like to discuss the opportunity further, contact Ian Hemingway, Attendance Improvement Lead on 0330 313 9855 or ian.hemingway@staracademies.org. 

Key Dates

Closing Date: Tuesday, 14 January 2025 at midnight.

Interview Date: Friday, 24 January 2025.

Proposed Start Date: Monday, 03 February 2025.

Application Process

To apply for this vacancy please use the 'Apply for job' link below. You should ensure your application form and supporting statement address all elements of the person specification. We will only consider candidates who meet the vast majority of the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

Our Commitment

Star Academies is committed to safeguarding, safer recruitment and promoting the welfare of pupils. Our comprehensive recruitment and selection processes aim to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants. Successful candidates are subject to rigorous pre-employment checks.

We are equally committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity. We aim for our workforce to be representative of society and that each employee feels respected and able to give their best. We are committed to providing equality and fairness in our recruitment and employment practices and not to discriminate on any grounds. We oppose all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination.