Job Title: Attendance Link Worker
Actual Starting Salary: £30,700 - £33,951 (Based on Term Time only plus inset days)
Salary: £35,852 - £39,649 (CLF Grade E) Based on Full Time hours, All year round.
Hours: Full time – 37 hours per week, term time only plus insets
Contract: Permanent
Provisional Start date: 3 September 2026 (Subject to completion of pre-employment checks)
Do you believe that improving attendance can transform a young person’s future and open the door to lifelong opportunities?
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Attendance Link Worker at Hanham Woods Academy. We are seeking a compassionate and driven individual with a strong understanding of the barriers that can impact school attendance, and a commitment to working alongside students and their families to overcome them.
As an Attendance Link Worker, you will play a vital role in building trusting, productive relationships with students, parents and carers. You will act as an advocate for families, ensuring their voices are heard and that they are able to access the support they need, whether within the academy or through external services. Through your work, you will help ensure every young person can access the education they are entitled to and are supported to engage fully in school life.
Working collaboratively with pastoral teams, external agencies and the wider community, you will develop and implement targeted, solution-focused strategies to remove barriers to attendance. You will take a proactive approach, identifying needs early, supporting families through challenges, and helping to make the academy as inclusive, accessible and supportive as possible.
You will also empower parents and carers by providing clear information, practical guidance and opportunities to engage with the academy, enabling them to play an active role in their child’s education and attendance journey.
About you
You will bring:
- A strong understanding of the wide range of challenges that can affect young people and their families, particularly within disadvantaged communities, alongside a commitment to ongoing professional learning
- Experience of working with young people and families within education, youth work, social care, health or a related field, with a proven ability to build and sustain effective relationships
- The ability to identify barriers to attendance and learning, and to implement clear, targeted action plans to address them using a solution-focused approach
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the confidence to engage sensitively in challenging conversations and work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities, maintain accurate records and monitor the impact of interventions
- A relevant professional qualification (or equivalent experience) and good literacy and numeracy skills (GCSE Maths and English or equivalent)
- A full driving licence and access to a vehicle to support home visits and community-based work
- Most importantly, you will be committed to improving life chances for young people, demonstrating empathy, resilience and a non-judgemental approach, while championing inclusion, safeguarding and high expectations for all.
- Applicants are advised to refer to the full requirements of the role in the attached job description and person specification, prior to submitting an application.
About Hanhan Woods Academy:
Hanham Woods Academy is a secondary school located within the outskirts of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, delivering education to more than 800 pupils aged 11-16. It is one of the most improved academies in the South West, and has a growing reputation both locally and regionally.
While we appreciate the unique setting in which the academy is placed, we work hard to challenge students from a variety of backgrounds to be the best they can be in all areas of life. Our mission here is simple: we want to give people the best chance of success, underpinned by our ethos of 'Dream Big, Work Hard, Be Kind'. We want students to 'climb the mountain' in order to achieve success both academically and by developing a confident, resilient and hard-working character.
Why work at CLF?
We are a diverse and inclusive community of 36 academies across five cluster regions in the South West that is committed to excellence and making a positive impact. Our people bring unique perspectives, but we’re all driven by a shared moral purpose and a passion for making a positive impact, whether in a teaching, leadership or support role. We’re proud to foster a culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued, and make a meaningful difference to the lives of others.
We are an equal opportunity employer and proud to serve a diverse student population and our communities. We strongly believe that representation matters and so encourage applications from underrepresented and global majority groups including ethnicity, gender, transgender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
We aim to remove any barriers to employment, ensuring everyone can compete on equal terms. Job share, part-time and flexible working opportunities will be considered.
What we can offer you:
- Access to a generous pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
- Generous annual leave.
- A comprehensive induction and ongoing commitment to wellbeing and career progression, through a range of training, apprenticeships and in-role/wider-trust development opportunities.
- Well-being support through an Employee Assistance Programme.
- Health benefits, including wellness sessions, gym discounts, and flu jabs.
- A range of generous family leave options, including above industry average occupational maternity pay.
- Additional benefits like cycle to work scheme, on-site parking plus many more!
Recruitment timeline:
Closing Date: 5 July 2026
Shortlisting: 6 July 2026
Interviews: 13 July 2026
We welcome visits from potential candidates. If you would like to arrange a school visit prior to the closing date, please contact the academy/site directly to arrange a suitable appointment.
As part of our commitment to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), we do not accept CVs – a full education and employment history must be provided through our application form.
Please note we are not able to offer visa sponsorship for this role
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, should we receive a high level of interest in the role. Therefore, candidates are advised to apply at their earliest convenience to avoid missing out.
As a Disability Confident Committed Employer, we are dedicated to equity and inclusion and commit to interviewing applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria. We aim to provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, and support employees throughout their employment. If you have a disability, are neurodivergent, or require any adjustments to support you through the application or interview process please let us know how we can assist.