School Engagement Officer
Padgate Academy, Warrington, WA2 0LN14 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 January 2026
Closing date
3 December 2025 at 12pm (midday)
Date listed
19 November 2025
Job details
Job role
- Other support roles
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Part time: 20 hours per week (working days and hours to be determined). Term-time only (total of 38 weeks per annum plus two INSET Days).
Contract type
- Fixed term - 12 months
Actual salary
- Actual salary for term-time only: £13,744 – £15,426 per annum
What skills and experience we're looking for
Start Date: January 2026
Contract: One year fixed-term post in the first instance
Hours: 20 hours per week (working days and hours to be determined).Term-time only (total of 38 weeks per annum plus two INSET Days).
Pay Range: Grade 6 SCP 15 to 22 – Full year salary range £30,024 to £33,699
Actual salary for term-time only: £13,744 – £15,426 per annum
Padgate Academy, a distinguished member of the Warrington-based multi-academy trust "The Challenge Academy Trust," is committed to achieving excellence as a cornerstone of its community-focused mission. With recent significant advancements in standards, we are seeking a compassionate, proactive, and determined School Engagement Officer to support some of the most vulnerable, persistently absent, and hard-to-reach students in our school community. These are young people who are often disengaged from learning, present challenging behaviours, and struggle with consistent attendance.
This role is central to our school’s commitment to inclusion and equity. The successful candidate will work intensively with students and families to improve attendance, build positive relationships with education, and help remove the barriers that prevent engagement in school life. The role will extend the capacity of our school’s Early Help offer to families, ensuring that parents, carers and students have the appropriate holistic support in place so that they can thrive in school and wider life.
In May 2023, Padgate Academy was judged to be ‘good’ in all categories by Ofsted. We are determined to progress the school further but need the very best teachers to do so. We look towards our PRIDE values (positivity, resilience, integrity, determination and endeavour), which we aspire to demonstrate on a daily basis.
Aim and Main Purpose of the Job:
At Padgate Academy, we recognise that some young people face challenges that make regular school attendance/engagement difficult. These challenges may include anxiety, worries, or other barriers that impact their learning, wellbeing, confidence, and sense of belonging. We recognise that early intervention is key, and that often there is a wider picture for our children, encompassing the whole family or contextual matters. To address this, we aim to extend our capacity to offer Early Help to our students and families.
The successful candidate will develop positive relationships with families in need of additional support, through offering appropriate interventions such as referrals to external agencies (e.g. Early Help), with the aim of improving student attendance and engagement with school.
The School Engagement Officer will play a key role in delivering this support, building trusting relationships with students and families, completing Early Help Assessments, chairing Team Around the Family meetings, and signposting to relevant support services. There may also be the opportunity to further develop this role to encompass student mentoring/specific interventions.
Essential Attributes:
- Experience of working with children and young people, ideally within an educational or pastoral support setting.
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage positively with students, parents, carers and professionals.
- Empathy, patience, and the ability to build trust with young people who may be experiencing anxiety or other barriers.
- Ability to support students’ learning in line with school expectations.
- Strong organisational skills to maintain accurate records and manage time efficiently.
- Clear understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and willingness to follow statutory guidance and school policies rigorously.
- Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
The successful candidate must possess clear communication skills, maintain a calm and respectful demeanour with students and staff, uphold reliability, trustworthiness, and adhere to Academy policies and procedures.
Join us at Padgate Academy as we embark on an exciting journey towards educational excellence. Apply now to make a lasting impact in our vibrant school community. Applications for job sharing arrangements will be considered. The Challenge Academy Trust (TCAT) and Padgate Academy are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, requiring all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is mandatory.
How to Apply:
Applications must be submitted using the Padgate Academy non-teaching post application form available on our website at https://padgateacademy.co.uk/vacancies.
Closing Date: Wednesday 3 December 2025 at noon
Interviews: Monday 8 December 2025
What the school offers its staff
Our 1,500 strong workforce is our greatest asset. Our teachers and support staff all play a pivotal role in enabling ouryoung learners to fulfil their potential in life.
At The Challenge Academy Trust wewant to embed a culture that champions better work and working lives across the Trust; a framework to support and develop our workforce from ‘hire to retire’. Our staff workload, wellbeing and benefits offer demonstrates our commitment to ensure we can:
- Provide a workload that is fair and reasonable.
- Foster an environment where employee health and wellbeing are actively supported and promoted.
- Develop employee’s personal and professional skills & knowledge continuously throughout their careers.
- Provide structured routes for career progression
- Reward people fairly with transparent and appropriate pay and conditions of service alongside additional benefits.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Padgate Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Applying for the job
Apply for the job by following the link below.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on school website (opens in new tab)Upload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Padgate Academy
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 642 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Padgate Academy website
- Email address
- info@padgateacademy.co.uk
Padgate Academy is a fully inclusive secondary academy in North Warrington.
The school benefits from being part of The Challenge Academy Trust (TCAT). At Padgate we are unswervingly committed to serving the local community through provision of a first-class education for all students. We are also committed to providing all students at the academy with a rich and ambitious curriculum offer enabling them to acquire the high-level knowledge that allows them to be successful during their time at the academy, as well as prepared to meet the demands of what comes next.
During the time students are at the academy, they are also able to supplement the rich academic curriculum with opportunities to develop their creativity, character, and leadership. We believe that these aspects of education are fundamental to developing the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes necessary to enable them to thrive. These aspects of school life are brought together in our CAS programme (creativity, activity, and society) which provides opportunities for student leadership, enrichment, and expression, and enables them to make a positive contribution to society beyond the classroom.
As a school we also believe in the importance of our students demonstrating good manners, showing respect, and demonstrating kindness in all they do. Students are also expected to always have a positive attitude to their learning. These things underpin our school culture and ethos and are celebrated as part of our comprehensive rewards system. We are proud of our caring pastoral support and want all students to feel happy, safe, and supported during their time here.
Visitors to the school often comment on the positive relationships at the school as well as the warm and supportive learning environment. All these aspects of school life are encapsulated in our school motto ‘Proud to be Padgate’.
Adam McMillan BA (Hons)
Principal
School location
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