Lead Practitioner Behaviour & Attendance

The Astley Cooper School, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 7HL

13 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  January 2027

• Closing date

  2 November 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  20 October 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other leadership role
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: £64,050.00 - £68,769.00 Annually (Actual)

Lead Practitioner Behaviour & Attendance job summary

An exciting opportunity to join The Astley Cooper School and make a significant difference to the lives of young people.

Are you an ambitious and inspirational teacher with a passion for behaviour, attendance, positive relationships and helping every student achieve their full potential?

The Astley Cooper School is seeking an enthusiastic, committed and experienced Lead Practitioner for Behaviour and Attendance to join our successful and developing school.

This is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding classroom practitioner who has the expertise, drive and determination to promote excellent behaviour, improve attendance, develop positive attitudes to learning and contribute to improving outcomes for all students.

We are looking for someone who has high expectations of themselves and others, can build positive relationships with young people and is committed to creating a calm, safe and purposeful learning environment in which every student feels supported to attend, participate and succeed.

About The Astley Cooper School

The Astley Cooper School is an increasingly popular and oversubscribed secondary school in Hemel Hempstead. We are proud of our diverse school community and are committed to providing the very best opportunities for all our students and staff.

Situated on the edge of Hemel Hempstead, the school benefits from excellent transport links, with easy access to the M1 and M25 as well as the local train station.

We are continuing to build a strong culture of success, with high expectations for all our students. Our ambition is that every young person leaves us as a successful, well-rounded and confident individual, prepared to succeed in the modern world.

Our challenges are significant, but this is what makes working at The Astley Cooper School so rewarding. We are a school with ambition, energy and a clear determination to improve outcomes and opportunities for our students.

The role

As Lead Practitioner for Behaviour and Attendance, you will play a key role in promoting high standards of behaviour, improving student attendance and ensuring that all students have the opportunity to engage positively with their education.

Working closely with the senior leadership team, pastoral staff, classroom teachers, students and families, you will help develop consistent approaches to behaviour and attendance, identify barriers to learning and implement effective strategies to improve student engagement and outcomes.

You will be an excellent classroom practitioner who can model effective behaviour management strategies, share best practice and support colleagues in developing their confidence and skills. You will also use attendance and behaviour information to identify patterns, target support and contribute to sustainable improvements across the school.

The role will involve direct work with students and families, collaboration with staff and contributing to the development and implementation of whole-school behaviour and attendance strategies.

Key responsibilities will include:

Promoting high standards of behaviour, conduct and attitudes to learning across the school.

Supporting the development and implementation of effective strategies to improve whole-school attendance and punctuality.

Monitoring attendance data to identify patterns, persistent absence, individual concerns and groups of students requiring additional support.

Working with students, parents and carers to understand and address barriers to regular school attendance.

Supporting early intervention and targeted strategies to improve attendance, reduce persistent absence and promote positive engagement with learning.

Working closely with pastoral teams, senior leaders and the attendance team to coordinate support and ensure appropriate follow-up.

Modelling excellent classroom practice and effective behaviour management strategies.

Supporting teachers and other colleagues to develop consistent approaches to behaviour and attendance.

Supporting students who experience difficulties with behaviour or attendance, helping them understand expectations and make positive changes.

Contributing to the development, implementation and review of the school's behaviour policy, attendance procedures and related interventions.

Using behaviour and attendance data to identify trends, evaluate the impact of interventions and inform school improvement priorities.

Supporting the reduction of persistent disruption, suspensions, repeat behaviour incidents and avoidable absence through appropriate interventions.

Developing positive relationships with students, parents and carers to improve behaviour, attendance and engagement.

Supporting colleagues with challenging situations and helping to ensure that behaviour incidents are managed fairly and consistently.

Contributing to staff training, coaching and professional development in behaviour management and strategies to promote attendance.

Promoting inclusion, safeguarding and student welfare, recognising that individual circumstances may affect a student's behaviour, attendance or ability to engage with school.

Working collaboratively with external agencies and relevant partners where appropriate to support students and families.

Contributing to a positive school culture in which excellent attendance, positive behaviour and responsibility for learning are valued by all.

The successful candidate will help ensure that behaviour and attendance are understood as shared responsibilities, with clear expectations, consistent practice and appropriate support for students to overcome barriers and succeed.

We are looking for someone who

Is an excellent and enthusiastic teacher with high expectations of all students.

Has a strong understanding of effective behaviour management and the factors that influence student behaviour.

Has a clear commitment to improving attendance, punctuality and student engagement.

Can use attendance and behaviour data confidently to identify concerns, monitor progress and inform appropriate interventions.

Can build positive, professional and respectful relationships with students, staff, parents and external partners.

Has experience of supporting colleagues and sharing effective classroom practice.

Can demonstrate the ability to manage challenging situations calmly, fairly and consistently.

Understands the importance of early intervention, parental engagement and individualised support in improving attendance.

Understands the importance of inclusion, safeguarding and student welfare when responding to behaviour and attendance concerns.

Can support students to take responsibility for their actions and attendance while maintaining clear and consistent boundaries.

Is resilient, solution-focused and able to respond positively to challenge.

Can work collaboratively with teaching staff, pastoral teams, attendance colleagues and senior leaders to improve outcomes across the school.

Is committed to continuous professional development and improving outcomes for young people.

Shares our belief that every student deserves the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background or starting point.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate a positive impact on student behaviour and attendance, who are passionate about developing the practice of others and who want to make a meaningful contribution to whole-school improvement.

What we can offer you

At The Astley Cooper School, we recognise that our staff are central to our success. We are committed to supporting colleagues to develop professionally and personally, and offer:

Membership of the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Access to an Employee Assistance Programme.

Vivup, a Hertfordshire County Council cashback scheme.

A comprehensive CPD programme for all colleagues.

A supportive and ambitious leadership team.

Opportunities for professional development and career progression.

The opportunity to influence and improve whole-school behaviour, attendance and student outcomes.

A school community committed to achieving the very best for its students.

Be part of our journey

This is an exciting time to join The Astley Cooper School. We are ambitious for our students, ambitious for our staff and committed to creating a culture where everyone can succeed.

If you are an enthusiastic and committed teacher with the skills, experience and passion to improve behaviour, strengthen attendance and make a genuine difference to the lives of young people, we would love to hear from you.

Come and join us as we continue to build a culture of success, promote positive behaviour, improve attendance and help our students achieve more than they thought possible.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.

Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children

You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About The Astley Cooper School

• Organisation type: Local authority maintained school, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary school
• Size: 914 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• Website: The Astley Cooper School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/the-astley-cooper-school

The Astley Cooper School is an 11-18, co-educational, secondary school on the outskirts of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

For many years, Astley Cooper School was a smaller than average secondary school but its numbers are rising because of its considerably improved academic standards and good reputation. The school is proud to be part of the Government’s Priority School Building Programme. This huge investment in our school has seen our cohort numbers increase as well our profile in the community. The school has state of the art facilities including a leisure centre, swimming pool and new science laboratory/classrooms benefiting staff, students and our wider community for many years to come.

Extra curricular activities on offer to all students at the school include sport, art, music, drama, dance, residential and cultural trips and visits.

School location

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