Attendance Champion Skills Audit Pack

A quick-and-easy pack to audit the skills of an attendance champion. This pack contains concise guidance to support you in effectively utilising the skills audit, whether you're line managing an attendance lead or whether you're a school attendance officer yourself who's wanting to evaluate their strengths and areas for improvement. 

Included is a 15-page template covering the different areas of skills that a senior attendance champion may need. These are split into handy sections, such as legislation, policies and record-keeping, supporting pupil attendance, and parental engagement and pupil views and voice  so they can be used flexibly. Questions include:

• Do I know when to issue letters in relation to attendance issues, such as unauthorised absences and poor punctuality?
• Do I possess motivational skills to inspire pupils to overcome attendance challenges?
• How do I empower parents and carers to play an active role in their child’s school attendance?
• How do I identify barriers to attendance for individual pupils and collaborate with families to develop personalised reintegration plans?

The pack is aimed at supporting attendance champions but can be used by anyone who line manages a person responsible for attendance in school, such as an attendance manager, attendance office or attendance lead. It can also help to audit the skills of staff in other roles who hold responsibility for attendance, such as an assistant head, deputy head, DSL or SENDCo. This process can help to inform appraisal and performance management processes, as well as identify CPD needs for the attendance lead. 

Whether staff members are new-to-role or have vast experience in their area, skills audits are a valuable self-evaluation tool. When a staff member reflects on their competencies and expertise, they’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the strengths they bring to their role while identifying opportunities for growth or next steps. This self-awareness can boost confidence and self-belief, as well as enabling individuals to articulate their unique contributions to the team.

When skill gaps are identified, performance targets can include specific objectives aimed at addressing these gaps, allowing those with line management responsibilities to support the staff member through professional development and further training. Skills audits can also help school leaders to create balanced teams, prepare for change, support staff retention and assist in succession planning. 

Key questions answered:

• Why is it important for staff to utilise skills audits?
• How should a skills audit be conducted?
• How can skills audits inform performance management targets?
• How can leaders identify individual staff training needs?
• What other ways can skills audits be used?

Skills audits can be used as a valuable part of the induction process when a new staff member joins your team. Find out more about how to craft staff induction procedures that allow staff to get off to a flying start in your setting with the following pack:

• Staff Induction Pack

If you know that your staff have training and development needs, and are looking to enhance your CPD planning, this pack will support your thinking: 

• CPD Planning and Preparation Pack

If you're thinking about recruiting an attendance co-ordinator, and want to use the skills audit as part of that process, then you'll find the following packs and pages useful too: 

• Attendance Champion Interview Pack
• Recruitment, Interview and Employment Compliance Guidance Pack
• More information on our job interview packs for different roles
• More skills audits for different roles