Education Welfare Officer

Advantage Schools is seeking a self-motivated and dedicated Education Welfare Officer (EWO) to support the delivery of the Advantage Schools Tiered Attendance Strategy by providing high‑quality attendance casework, safeguarding support, and statutory intervention across all academies and schools within the Trust. 

Working as part of the Central Attendance and Welfare Team, you will ensure consistent practice, robust monitoring, and coordinated support for pupils and families to improve attendance and life chances. 

The successful candidate will have      

• English and Maths at GCSE grade A-C or equivalent
• NVQ 3 or equivalent in a relevant field such as health and social care, family support.
• Experience supporting children, young people, and families in an educational, social care, or community setting.
• Experience conducting home visits and managing challenging or sensitive conversations.
• Experience maintaining accurate casework records in line with safeguarding expectations.
• Experience working collaboratively with multi‑agency partners (e.g., Early Help, Social Care, Police, Health).
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) —able to adapt communication to a range of audiences including parents, pupils, and professionals.
• Strong understanding of attendance legislation, statutory responsibilities, and legal thresholds.
• Understanding of safeguarding principles, thresholds of need, and escalation pathways.
• Knowledge of barriers that affect pupil attendance and effective strategies to overcome them.
• Understanding of confidentiality, data protection, and information‑sharing protocols.
• Ability to build strong, trusting relationships while maintaining professional boundaries.
• Confident in challenging conversations, including discussing legal processes where necessary.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a caseload across multiple schools.
• Ability to analyse data, identify patterns, and use this to inform targeted action.
• Competent IT skills and ability to accurately update systems such as Arbor, CPOMS, and central tracking tools in a timely manner.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a wider team.
• Patience, resilience and willingness to reflect on own practice to continually improve.
• Be energetic, well-motivated and flexible.
• Must have a valid driving licence and use of a car.

Job Specifics

Start date   asap

Salary   AS 18 – 24 FTE £31,846 – £35,722 dependent on experience, actual pro rata salary £29,053- £32,589

Contract   Permanent, Full time, Term time + INSET plus 2 weeks, 41 weeks per year, 37 hours per week, Monday-Thursday 8am – 4pm, Friday 8am-3:30pm.

Advantage Schools Attendance and Welfare base is at The Chalk Hills Academy however, you will be required to attend, and support, any of our academies or schools on a day-to-day basis.

The Trust reserves the right to interview and appoint a suitable candidate before the deadline date

Safeguarding

We believe in the safeguarding and welfare of children and expect all staff to share this view’.

The Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment.  Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. We are an equal opportunities employer.

The Department for Education (DfE) has set out statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ for schools and colleges on safeguarding.

Safeguarding is defined in paragraph 4 as:

“Protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.”

The definition of 'children' includes everyone under the age of 18.