Trust Attendance Improvement Lead

Star Academies, Blackburn, BB1 2HT

14 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  1 September 2026

• Closing date

  20 May 2026 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  6 May 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other leadership roles
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time: 37 hours per week All Year Round
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £82,654.00 to £91,158.00 per annum

What skills and experience we're looking for

Who we’re looking for

Star Academies is seeking a highly experienced and credible Trust-wide Attendance Lead to provide system leadership and strategic oversight of attendance across our geographically diverse trust.

You will bring:

• A strong track record of improving attendance outcomes at scale
• The confidence and credibility to challenge and support principals and senior leaders
• A rigorous, evidence-led approach balanced with empathy and inclusion
• Secure expertise in statutory compliance, safeguarding and equitable practice
• A commitment to reducing disadvantage and ensuring pupils with SEND receive the support they need to attend regularly

This role is less about direct delivery and more about setting direction, quality assuring impact, holding leaders to account and building sustainable capacity across the trust.

About the role

As Trust-wide Attendance Lead, you will:

• A strong track record of improving attendance outcomes at scale
• Set clear expectations for attendance leadership, systems, thresholds and intervention across all schools
• Use data intelligence, audit activity and QA processes to identify risk, variation and disproportionality
• Hold school leaders to account for attendance outcomes, agreeing and monitoring improvement actions
• Build attendance leadership capacity through coaching, professional development and challenge
• Ensure statutory compliance and high-quality practice in relation to persistent absence, severe absence, CME and EHE
• Act as the trust’s subject-matter expert for attendance, advising executive leaders, trustees and principals
• Ensure attendance practice is fully aligned with safeguarding, SEND, behaviour and inclusion systems, including Every Star Matters
• Lead trust-level engagement with local authorities and statutory partners
• Provide strategic oversight of legal and enforcement activity, ensuring proportionality and consistency
• Contribute to trust and board-level reporting, inspection preparation and wider system improvement work

The role requires flexibility to travel across trust schools and, where necessary, to work remotely or flexibly according to operational need.

You will have:

• Significant experience of leading attendance improvement across multiple schools or at system level
• Excellent understanding of DfE attendance guidance, statutory processes and best practice
• Strong data literacy, with the ability to translate insight into action
• The ability to challenge, influence and support senior leaders with credibility and care
• A child-centred, inclusive approach underpinned by high expectations
• The resilience and judgement to manage complex cases involving safeguarding, SEND and family vulnerability
• Full commitment to Star Academies’ vision, values and commitment to equity

What the school offers its staff

Star Central, which is based at our head office in Blackburn, Lancashire, provides leadership, strategic direction and support to Star Academies, Star Talent Academy and our schools.

The Star Central team includes experts from a range of professional backgrounds, who work together to provide an outstanding support service to the Star community. We support our schools to provide educational and operational excellence and to cultivate a strong Star community, with the aim of nurturing today’s young people and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders.

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

Apply for the job by following the link below.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Additional documents

If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.

JDPS - Trust Attendance Improvement Lead.pdf - 382 KB (opens in new tab)

About Star Academies

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• Email address: info@staracademies.org
• Phone number: 0330 313 9800
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/star-academies

Head office location

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