Description
All staff must make a positive contribution to:
* the Catholic ethos of the College
* the College Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy;
* the pursuit of excellence and the highest standards of quality in all aspects of College life;
* their own professional development, in accordance with the needs of the College.
The person appointed would be expected to:
* Improve student attendance, supporting and priorisiting vulnerable learners, and strengthening relationships between college and home.
* Be central to consistent tracking, monitoring and improving student attendance across college.
* Work collaboratively with colleagues to take a proactive approach to contacting absent learners
* Drive high standards of attendance through daily monitoring, timely intervention and clear, consistent communication with students and parent/carers.
* Work quickly and accurately with college systems and confidently challenge poor attendance
* Identify patterns and trends and ensure concerns are acted upon promptly in line with college strategy and policies
* Play a vital part in removing barriers to learning and ensuring students are supported to thrive and achieve their full potential.
* To be responsible to the Assistant Principal (Student Development & Support) reporting to the Pastoral Directors to carry out duties in a professional and sensitive manner
* To liaise on a weekly basis with the Pastoral Director
* To make direct contact with students to establish reasons for absence and to liaise with parents/carers where required.
* To robustly challenge poor attendance and punctuality, clearly communicating expectations, targets and consequences in a professional and supportive manner.
* To provide operational support to Personal Achievement Tutors in driving a strong culture of attendance across curriculum areas
* To escalate attendance concerns appropriately to Personal Achievement Tutors, Pastoral Directors, Assistant Principals and relevant staff to ensure timely follow-up and intervention.
* To support the consistent application of College attendance and punctuality procedures across curriculum areas.
* To respond and manage attendance enquiries from parents and carers and liaise with curriculum and support staff to improve learner attendance.
* Ensure that parents/carers/ are informed of all absences and withdrawals, checking all sickness and providing operational support for persistent absences
* To attend relevant meetings and contribute to discussions around attendance trends, priorities and improvement strategies.
* Promote College systems with parent/carers such as CEDAR for closer monitoring of their young person’s attendance.
* To monitor and track student attendance and punctuality daily for all 16–18 learners across the College.
* To access, read and analyse absence and attendance data throughout the working day in order to identify emerging issues, patterns of concern and areas for intervention.
* To identify patterns of absenteeism, persistent absence and lateness, escalating concerns in line with College thresholds and procedures.
* To prepare and provide attendance reports and summaries for Personal Achievement Tutors, Pastoral Director, Heads of Departments, Curriculum Leaders, Assistant Principals and other senior staff as required.
* To ensure student absences are recorded accurately and consistently in line with College absence notification procedures, including reasons for absence.
* To maintain accurate, timely and detailed attendance records on College systems, working at pace and with a high level of accuracy.
* Undertake data input and ensuring that absences are verified through timely contact with both students and parents/carers by phone or email
* When necessary, update parent/carer contact information for learners.
* To pay particular attention to the attendance of learners identified as vulnerable and/or disadvantaged, ensuring concerns are identified early and escalated in line with College and safeguarding procedures.
* To take appropriate and timely action where an absence may indicate a missing child or a student at risk, in accordance with College safeguarding processes.
* Provide early identification of barriers taking actions to support students to improve attendance e.g. bursary application and travel passes.
* To seek and support innovative solutions to specific attendance issues in liaison with pastoral and curriculum areas.
* To actively promote a culture of excellence, equality and high expectations within the College.
* To observe and implement the College’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy
* To attend open events and other College events where attendance input is required.
* To undertake administrative tasks appropriate to the role, including data entry, record keeping and correspondence.
* To attend meetings and complete mandatory training in accordance with the colleges meeting/training schedule
* To assist at the colleges Open Evenings / Consultation Evenings
* Each member of the College will take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself/herself and persons who may be affected by his/her omissions at work.
* To undertake any other duties as may be assigned commensurate with the grade and overall responsibility level of the post and as changing circumstances may require.
Contract and Salary Information
Closing date: 12 noon on Monday 1st June 2026, we reserve the right to close this vacancy before this date.
Start date: 25th August 2026
Contract: Established, full time 36 hours per week (Monday to Friday 8.30 am - 4.30 pm). Term time only plus one additional week.
Salary: Point 12-14, £29,544-£31,324 pa (actual payable £24,316.98 - £25,782.06 pa) depending on experience
Carmel College is a leading Catholic sixth form college located in St. Helens, Merseyside, specialising in Level 3 education. With a diverse student body of over 2,000, the college offers a comprehensive range of academic and vocational qualifications, catering for A Level and BTEC students, GCSE Maths and English Language resits, and a Level 4 Art Foundation course in partnership with the University of the Arts, London. The college also offers a wide variety of Foundation Degree courses at Level 5 in collaboration with The University of Liverpool. Furthermore, Carmel College maintains a well established Foundation Learning provision, offering Entry Level and Level 1 qualifications.
The college attracts students from over 100 schools across the region, with approximately 50% of students hailing from the St Helens and Knowsley boroughs, and the remainder coming from the wider Merseyside area. Carmel College is committed to providing a nurturing and academically rigorous environment, guiding students toward success in higher education and beyond.
As a respected member of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, the Maple Group (comprising 13 high performing sixth form colleges), and the Association of Catholic Sixth Form Colleges, Carmel College works collaboratively within its sector to deliver outstanding educational experiences. The college also partners with key organisations such as the Archdiocese of Liverpool School Improvement Trust to foster academic growth and community engagement.
Carmel College is proud to maintain formal partnerships with The University of Liverpool and University of the Arts, London, enhancing the educational pathways available to its students.
Our success lies in the fact that we recruit and retain excellent people who work exceptionally hard, driven by the Vision, Mission and shared values which underpin everything we do at the college.
At the heart of the Vision, Mission and shared values is the commitment to providing an outstanding sixth form education for our young people in a caring, Christian environment, one which makes a positive difference for these young people, improving their life chances and their life opportunities. In December 2024, the College was inspected and judged by Ofsted to be providing an Outstanding sixth form education for our young people. The college was also judged Outstanding in its denominational inspection carried out by the Archdiocese of Liverpool in February 2020.
We are incredibly proud to be an Outstanding college, providing an excellent sixth form education for our students, one which is reflected in the exceptional results they achieve and the exciting destinations to which they progress. Yet, as a proactive governing body and staff, we remain ever mindful of the need to challenge ourselves to strive for continuous improvement, to ensure that we always provide the very best sixth form education for the young people in the local community we serve.
We seek applicants with the vision, integrity and understanding of the Vision, Mission and values of a ‘Catholic College for the Community’, who will continue to drive our College forward. Our ideal candidate will be committed to build a future college that is vibrant, inclusive and provides a caring, Christian environment. We are looking for someone who will put staff and students at the centre of the work of the College, a College which prides itself on academic excellence and on delivering an outstanding sixth form college experience for young people.