Education Welfare Officer

At Suffolk County Council, every role is a chance to create positive change. We're not just a local authority; we're a team of dedicated individuals working together to improve school attendance across our diverse communities. As an Education Welfare Officer, you'll have the unique opportunity to see the direct impact of your work on the children, young people and the schools that make Suffolk special. Your contributions will help build a brighter future for all. If you're passionate about making a real, tangible difference, it's time to reimagine your career with us. Join Suffolk County Council and turn your passion for positive change into action.

Your role and responsibilities
As an Education Welfare Officer, you will;
- join a dedicated group of officers who are responsible for promoting equality of opportunity for all children to enable access to appropriate educational entitlement
- provide practical guidance to schools on attendance policy and the law, advice and support to children and their parents/carers on promoting good attendance and punctuality and where appropriate, make recommendations to other agencies enabling them to provide vulnerable families with a holistic package of support
- travel across the County carrying out home visits where necessary, visiting schools, and attending meetings
- work on your own initiative while managing a demanding workload, prioritising work, and adopting a flexible approach to changing and competing challenges., We fulfil both statutory and non-statutory functions in relation to compulsory school-aged children and young people:
- Monitoring student attendance and addressing any issues.
- Working with students who may be facing various challenges.
- Conducting home visits.
- Working proactively to identify and support issues early.
- Delivering training sessions or workshops.
- Coordinating the involvement of various professionals.
- Developing comprehensive support plans and policies.
- Analysing data to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.
- Ensuring effective communication between many parties.
- Advocating for the rights and welfare of students.
- Making referrals to appropriate services or support networks if necessary.
- Advice and guidance for schools on all matters relating to processes underpinning school attendance and pupil registration, including registration coding and off roll procedures.
- Case work management.
- Regular consultation with key personnel to report and plan actions for open cases, including matters relating to safeguarding concerns, carrying out termly register checks and monitoring students whose attendance is below 90%.
- All aspects of legal intervention for school attendance offences.

Empowering Everyone
We're big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We're always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report., Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement indicating how you meet each of the criteria in the 'Person Profile' section of the JPP.
- You should use the Supporting Statement template (docx).
- Please use Arial font size 11 and keep your statement to a maximum of two sides of A4.
Please note: Without a supporting statement, your interest will not be progressed. Any supporting documents must be in either PDF or MS Word format.
We value authentic applications that showcase your genuine skills and experiences. Applications suspected of being generated by AI may be rejected. We encourage you to present your own work and ideas throughout the application process.

enjoy working with children and families
- have experience of working with schools
- have a good understanding of the education system, especially in relation to education issues and school attendance.
- the ability to work using own initiative but also as part of a team
- have good communication skills to be able to work with partners across all agencies and departments
- listen sensitively to people's problems and be able to deal with them in a sympathetic, tactful and non-judgemental way
- have experience of using Microsoft Office., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We're driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.
In return, you'll enjoy:

up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
diverse and active staff networks
flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

Plus lots more!