Student Data and Operations Officer

GEMS International School, Al Khail, opened in September, 2013, as a premium school offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme.

Job Purpose

The Student Data and Attendance Operations Officer is responsible for ensuring that student data, attendance records and daily attendance processes are accurate, timely, compliant and operationally effective across the school. The role provides the administrative backbone for whole-school attendance, ensuring that registers are completed correctly, unexplained absence is followed up promptly, attendance information is escalated appropriately, and leaders have reliable data to support intervention, safeguarding and school improvement.

The postholder will work closely with reception, teachers, pastoral teams, safeguarding colleagues, phase leaders, the Senior Attendance Champion and the operations team to ensure that attendance is managed as a whole-school priority.

The role is administrative and operational in nature, but it is central to ensuring that the school has robust oversight of student presence, absence, punctuality, attendance patterns and related communications with families.

Key Accountabilities

• Maintain accurate, complete and up-to-date student records within the school MIS and related operational systems.

• Oversee the daily administrative operation of attendance, punctuality, absence follow-up, register checks and attendance coding.

• Ensure unexplained absence is followed up promptly and escalated where safeguarding, welfare or persistent absence concerns arise.

• Produce regular attendance reports, dashboards and analysis for leaders, pastoral teams and operational meetings.

• Support consistent parent communication through timely, accurate and appropriately worded attendance information.

• Maintain clear records of attendance actions, contact attempts, parent responses, reasons for absence, escalation points and agreed next steps.

• Support inspection, accreditation, audit and regulatory readiness through accurate data, evidence files and attendance documentation.

Student Data Management and MIS Accuracy

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date student records on the school MIS, including enrolment status, student details,class allocation, year group, contact information, emergency contacts, language information, nationality,demographic data and relevant operational fields.

• Coordinate regular checks of student information to ensure that key data fields are complete, accurate and consistent across MIS, attendance, safeguarding, communications and operational systems.

• Ensure that student data is maintained to support KHDA, GEMS, internal, inspection, accreditation and leadership reporting requirements.

• Produce reports relating to student numbers, attendance, punctuality, absence categories, cohorts, phase trends,demographics and operational data as required.

• Support data audits, documentation checks and records maintenance in accordance with school policy, data protection expectations and confidentiality requirements.

• Assist with class lists, student movement updates, withdrawals, new starters, timetable-related student information and other operational data processes.

• Maintain clear electronic filing systems for key student documentation, attendance evidence and operational records.Daily Attendance Administration and Register Oversight

• Coordinate the daily attendance administration process across the school, ensuring that registers are completed accurately and within agreed timeframes.

• Check morning and afternoon/session registers for missing marks, incomplete entries, late submissions, unexplained absences and inconsistent coding.

• Follow up promptly with teachers, tutors, phase teams or administrative colleagues where registers have not been completed or where data requires correction.

• Monitor late arrivals and early departures, ensuring that these are recorded accurately and supported by appropriate parent communication or approval where required.

• Ensure attendance codes are entered consistently, accurately and in line with school policy, regulatory expectations and agreed internal procedures.

• Maintain a daily register completion log, highlighting staff follow-up, repeated omissions, coding issues and any operational concerns for line manager review.

• Support lesson-by-lesson or period attendance monitoring where required, particularly in secondary, to identify students who are on site but not attending timetabled lessons.

First-Day Absence Follow-Up and Parent Contact

• Operate the first-day absence process for unexplained absence, contacting parents or guardians promptly where no reason has been provided.

• Record all contact attempts, parent responses, reasons for absence, expected return dates and any concerns arising from the communication.

• Ensure that continuing unexplained absence is followed up through agreed escalation steps, including additional contact attempts and referral to pastoral or safeguarding colleagues where required.

• Maintain more than one emergency contact where reasonably possible and flag missing, outdated or ineffective contact details for correction.

• Ensure absence reasons are updated as soon as confirmed and that unresolved absence entries are reviewed and corrected within the school’s agreed timeframe.

• Use a firm, factual, respectful and supportive tone in attendance communications with parents, balancing high expectations with sensitivity to individual family circumstances.

• Ensure that communication is individualised wherever possible, using the student’s name, accurate attendance information and clear next steps rather than generic messages.

Punctuality, Leave of Absence and Movement Monitoring

• Monitor punctuality patterns and generate regular information on late arrivals by student, class, year group, phase,day and time.

• Maintain administrative records for approved early departures, authorised appointments, school trips, educational activities, off-site learning, examinations, medical evidence and other permitted absence categories.

• Support the administration of leave of absence requests, ensuring that applications are logged, supporting documentation is retained and leadership decisions are recorded clearly.

• Flag repeated late arrival, early departure or patterns of absence to the relevant pastoral or phase leader for followup.

• Ensure reception and front-of-house processes for late arrival and early departure align with attendance recording, safeguarding and student movement expectations.

Attendance Reporting, Analysis and Early Identification

• Generate daily, weekly, half-termly, termly and ad hoc attendance reports for leaders, pastoral teams, tutors,safeguarding colleagues and operational meetings.

• Analyse attendance patterns beyond headline percentages, including sessions missed, days missed, repeated lateness, day-of-week patterns, lesson attendance, phase trends, class trends, subject patterns where relevant, and cohort-level concerns.

• Identify students at risk of declining attendance before concerns become entrenched, including students approaching persistent absence thresholds or showing emerging disengagement.

• Maintain attendance watchlists and trackers for students requiring closer oversight, ensuring updates are accurate and shared with relevant colleagues.

• Prepare attendance information for vulnerable student meetings, safeguarding discussions, pastoral reviews, parent meetings, reintegration planning and leadership briefings.

• Monitor the impact of attendance interventions by maintaining before-and-after data, action logs and review dates.

• Support leaders with benchmarking, trend analysis and attendance improvement priorities where relevant and possible.

Escalation, Safeguarding and Vulnerable Student Oversight

• Escalate unexplained absence, repeated absence, severe absence, concerning patterns or unsuccessful contact attempts in line with the school’s safeguarding and attendance procedures.

• Work closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead, pastoral leaders, inclusion colleagues and phase teams where absence may indicate welfare, mental health, SEND, family, medical or safeguarding concerns.

• Maintain accurate administrative records of attendance-related safeguarding referrals, escalation points and outcomes, ensuring confidentiality at all times.

• Ensure that students with known vulnerabilities, medical needs, SEND, social care involvement or other contextual factors are flagged appropriately in attendance monitoring systems, where permitted and relevant.

• Provide administrative support for reintegration planning following extended absence, including attendance data,communication records, meeting notes and review schedules.

• Ensure that attendance administration does not operate in isolation, but supports wider work on welfare, behaviour,inclusion, safeguarding and student support.

Parent Communication and Attendance Culture

• Coordinate regular parent communication about attendance and punctuality levels, ensuring information is accurate, understandable and aligned with school expectations.

• Frame attendance information in clear terms, including sessions, days or learning time missed where appropriate,rather than relying solely on percentages.

• Support the preparation of attendance letters, emails, reminders and meeting invitations at agreed trigger points.

• Ensure communications include clear contact routes for parents who need support with barriers to attendance.

• Maintain templates and records of attendance communications, ensuring consistency across phases and alignment with the school attendance policy.

• Support leaders in promoting a whole-school culture of strong attendance through accurate data, regular messaging and operational consistency.

Skills, Knowledge and Competencies

• Excellent organisational and administrative skills, with the ability to manage high-volume daily processes accurately.

• Strong attention to detail and a high level of accuracy in data entry, record keeping and reporting.

• Confident use of MIS platforms, Microsoft Excel, reporting tools, email systems and school communication platforms.

• Ability to analyse attendance patterns and translate data into clear summaries for leaders and pastoral teams.

• Professional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate firmly and sensitively with parents.

• Sound understanding of confidentiality, safeguarding awareness and appropriate escalation of welfare concerns.

• Ability to work calmly under pressure, prioritise competing deadlines and maintain consistent routines in a busy school environment.

• Proactive, solution-focused and able to identify process gaps and recommend practical improvements.

• Collaborative approach, with the ability to work across administration, operations, pastoral, safeguarding, inclusion and leadership teams.

Experience and Qualifications

• Experience in a school administrative, attendance, data, operations or student services role is desirable.

• Experience using a school MIS, attendance system or student database is desirable.

• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, is essential.

• Understanding of school attendance, safeguarding, data protection and inspection-readiness processes is desirable.

• High standard of written English and professional communication is essential.

• Commitment to the values, ethos and expectations of GEMS International School.

GEMS Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all of its students and staff. A UK-enhanced DBS or equivalent police check is a pre-requisite for all appointments.