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Family Engagement Partner
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Family Engagement Partner
Location: Walsall
About The Ladder School
We are an Alternative Provision Free School located in Walsall, occupying a brand new, fabulous building. We are becoming the "go-to place" for Alternative Provision in the borough.
At The Ladder School, we recognize that the mainstream school system does not suit all young people, and we are here to offer a second chance. We believe that every student has potential, and our staff work incredibly hard to ensure our students make the most of the opportunities available to them while they are with us. Unlike other alternative provisions, we offer a range of GCSE and vocational courses to ensure students receive a well-rounded education and have the best chances in their future. We have a strong careers program designed to support students in reaching positive destinations after they leave The Ladder School.
School Ethos:
- High standards: Students are pushed to achieve beyond their potential, and staff work to ensure everything we do is better than people expect.
- Daring to Dream: Students at The Ladder School may have been in an educational setting where they lack aspirations to be successful. At The Ladder School, we challenge students to reach their potential and go on to further education and employment.
- Traditional Values: Some things often get forgotten in education; at The Ladder School, we pride ourselves on mutual respect, good manners, making a positive contribution, supporting one another, and an orderly, litter-free environment.
- Success: Success can come in many virtues; at The Ladder School, we celebrate the small steps every day and tell students when they are doing well. We ensure that students can have a successful future.
- Personalised Support: All students at The Ladder School have a Learning Coach who guides them, sets them bespoke targets, and supports them in making social and academic progress.
Role Overview
Want to make a difference to young people?
Are you ready to embark on a rewarding journey within an educational community that values increasing opportunities and improving outcomes for our students? We are looking for a Family Engagement Partner to join our team. Reporting to the Assistant Headteacher (Behaviour, Attendance & Safeguarding), the Family Engagement Partner strengthens the vital connection between home and school, ensuring families feel supported, respected, and empowered. Working within an Alternative Provision context, the role focuses on removing barriers, improving attendance and engagement, and supporting safeguarding through early help, multi-agency collaboration, and consistent communication.
This role is central to The Ladder School’s mission: every child deserves a fresh start, a safe space, and a team who never gives up on them.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Family Engagement & Support
- Build trusting relationships with families, especially those who may feel disconnected or wary of education settings.
- Provide practical and emotional support to parents/carers to help them engage with their child’s education.
- Conduct home visits to support attendance, welfare, and engagement.
- Offer early help support, signposting families to relevant services (housing, mental health, financial support, youth services).
- Facilitate family meetings, restorative conversations, and solution-focused discussions.
- Promote a culture where families feel like partners, not observers.
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Attendance & Engagement
- Work closely with the Attendance Lead to monitor patterns, identify concerns, and intervene early.
- Support families to overcome barriers to attendance, including routines, transport, anxiety, or safeguarding concerns.
- Contribute to attendance action plans, parenting contracts, and multi-agency attendance meetings.
- Maintain accurate records of interventions, home visits, and communication.
- Promote a sense of belonging and connection for students and families.
Safeguarding & Multi-Agency Working
- Act as a key point of contact for families involved with social care, early help, youth justice, or CAMHS.
- Attend and contribute to TAC/TAF meetings, CIN/CP conferences, and multi-agency reviews.
- Work with the DSL team to ensure timely reporting, accurate record-keeping, and effective follow-up.
- Support the school’s safeguarding culture through professional curiosity, early identification of risk, and proactive communication.
- Ensure families understand safeguarding processes and feel supported throughout.
Supporting Students in AP Context
- Understand the complexities of students who have experienced permanent exclusion, trauma, SEND, SEMH, and disrupted education.
- Work with pastoral and behavior teams to support re-engagement, regulation, and belonging.
- Support reintegration meetings, managed moves, and transition planning.
- Contribute to risk assessments, behavior plans, and personalized support strategies.
- Model calm, consistency, and relational practice at all times.
Communication & Administration
- Maintain high-quality records on CPOMS and school systems.
- Produce reports for SLT, governors, and external agencies.
- Ensure communication with families is timely, respectful, and accessible.
- Support the organization of family events, workshops, and information sessions.
- Promote The Ladder School’s values through all interactions.
Qualifications and Skills
Essential Experience & Knowledge
- Experience working with vulnerable families in education, social care, youth work, or community settings.
- Strong understanding of safeguarding, early help, and multi-agency processes.
- Knowledge of trauma-informed practice and how adverse experiences affect behavior and engagement.
- Experience conducting home visits and managing challenging conversations.
- Ability to build trust with families who may be resistant or anxious.
- Strong communication skills with diverse audiences.
- Experience supporting attendance and engagement in a school or AP context.
Desirable Experience & Knowledge
- Experience in Alternative Provision or PRU settings.
- Understanding of SEND, particularly SEMH, ASD, and ADHD.
- Training in restorative practice.
- Experience with multi-agency safeguarding.
- Knowledge of local Walsall services (Early Help, CAMHS, Youth Justice, Housing).
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Personal Qualities
- Calm, consistent, and emotionally resilient.
- Non-judgemental and empathetic.
- High expectations with unconditional positive regard.
- Solution-focused and proactive.
- Able to work independently and as part of a team.
Why The Mercian Trust?
As one Trust, we share a common purpose. We call it our social mobility and social justice mission to change our communities through the very best equitable education. When we get this right, it enables our children and young people to fulfil their potential, thrive in the world of work, and make a positive contribution to the local, national, and international community. Our recent achievements include:
- Sustainable Growth: Becoming one of the largest and most diverse trusts in the region.
- Social Mobility & Social Justice: National recognition for the Trust’s two selective grammar schools who are the most successful on the number of local disadvantaged students passing the entrance and joining the schools.
- Increasing Opportunities: Opening brand-new purpose-built campus in Walsall Town Centre, including an alternative provision for students at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream schools alongside a Digital Skills Hub to provide professionals and employers.
- Pioneering Spirit: National recognition for pioneering work around youth mental health, including establishing an in-house multi-disciplinary team of clinicians and allied health professionals delivering interventions and providing support to vulnerable students.
- Outward Looking: Organizing and hosting the region’s first Youth Suicide Conference (2023) and Youth Violence Conference (2024) at Villa Park.
- Innovation and Improvement: A multi-million-pound investment in the digital infrastructure of Trust schools and our Digital Skills Hub underpinning the ongoing transformation of how staff teach, students learn, leaders lead, and the whole Trust operates in readiness for the AI-supercharged careers and workplaces of the future.
Benefits
- Financial, Health, and Lifestyle
- Discounts on everyday purchases (Eden Red)
- A comprehensive free-of-charge health plan (UK Health Care)
- A cycle to work scheme via Halfords
- Access to the Blue Light Card
For further benefits including education sector-leading CPD: The Mercian Trust - What we can offer you
The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults, and all appointments are subject to enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks and satisfactory references.
The Mercian Trust is also committed to promoting equality, challenging discrimination, and developing community cohesion. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
Please take time to read our policies attached to this advert.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. Please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
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