James Saukila
Motivated professional with experience in administration, attendance, and welfare in secondary education
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About
Motivated professional with experience in administration, attendance, and welfare in secondary education. Graduated with First-class honours in Counselling Studies with Mentoring from the University of Huddersfield.
Experience
Operations Manager - Castle School - Derby
(2026-02)
Led business operations across HR, finance, estates, IT and administration, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and high-quality service delivery.
- Managed HR functions including recruitment, onboarding, employee lifecycle processes, and absence management.
Administration Assistant - Castle School - Derby
(2025-11 - 2026-02)
Delivered a professional receptionist and administrative service as the first point of contact, ensuring safeguarding and GDPR compliance while building positive relationships with parents, pupils, staff, and external stakeholders.
- Managed student administration including electronic records on Arbor and Teams.
- Supported the effective operation of the school through admissions, SEN and assessment co-ordination and timetabling.
- Managed staff and HR records, coordinated training and stock control within budget, supporting efficient operations and ongoing improvement.
Administration Assistant & Receptionist - Derby Moor Spencer Academy - Derby
(2024-02 - 2025-11)
Supported student welfare, behaviour, and wellbeing by delivering targeted pastoral interventions that improved engagement, attendance, and achievement.
- Fostered positive relationships built on mutual respect while working collaboratively with pastoral teams and senior leaders to implement school-wide strategies for behaviour, rewards, attendance, punctuality, and attainment.
- Maintained effective communication with staff, families, and external agencies, providing proactive administrative and pastoral support to ensure consistent, high-quality student care.
Attendance Welfare Officer - The Two Counties Trust - Derbyshire
(2023-12 - 2024-02)
Supported attendance improvement across Friesland School and Swanwick Hall School through a combination of office-based administration and direct work with families and external agencies.
- Delivered early intervention and preventative support to targeted families, providing guidance, signposting, and practical solutions to address barriers to regular attendance.
- Worked collaboratively with Leadership and Pastoral Teams to implement student and family engagement strategies, motivating and empowering families to improve attendance patterns.
- Built effective relationships to encourage sustained engagement, contributing to improved attendance outcomes and positive home–school partnerships.
Attendance Officer / Therapeutic Mentor - Co-op Academy Grange - Bradford
(2019-09 - 2023-12)
Managed the day-to-day operation of attendance systems, ensuring accurate, timely, and confidential recording of data across Progresso, SIMS, and Arbor. Acted as a key point of contact for attendance-related enquiries, handling communication with parents, carers, students, staff, and external agencies while promoting positive attitudes towards education and regular attendance.
- Proactively investigated and challenged patterns of poor attendance through absence monitoring, follow-up calls, attendance meetings with students, and home visits. Worked closely with families to identify barriers to attendance and support improved engagement and compliance.
- Provided therapeutic and mentoring support to a rotating caseload of up to seven students across Years 7–11, delivering confidential, student-centred interventions to address social, emotional, and mental health needs. Applied recognised therapeutic approaches informed by Counselling Studies with Mentoring (BSc) to support emotional regulation, resilience, and wellbeing.
- Worked collaboratively with the school counsellor, safeguarding team, and external professionals including social workers to monitor student welfare and respond to concerns. Maintained accurate and confidential records on CPOMs, ensuring safeguarding practices and reporting procedures were consistently followed.
Education
BSc (Hons) - Counselling with Mentoring - University of Huddersfield (2019)
A-Levels - Bradford Academy (2016)
GCSEs - Bradford Academy (2016)
