Roisin McEvoy, Head of Schools Training and National Programmes at the Anna Freud Centre
So, what is happening with regard to school attendance across the country? And are we right to believe that non-attendance is an increasing problem? This is not necessarily an easy question to answer. Firstly, measuring non-attendance at school is a tricky business. For example, children or young people who change schools during an academic year may not have their attendance accurately included in official measures. In addition, reported figures will tell us about who attended school on a given number of days and stayed long enough to be marked present on the register in the morning or afternoon. But these figures will not tell us about the many children and young people who are present in the school building, but do not attend some or all of their timetabled lessons. This means that the actual rates of non-attendance could be significantly higher than national data suggests.
However, even without including the unreported non-attendances above, there is evidence that an increased number of students are missing more than 10% of the school year (the DfE threshold for persistent absence). Government figures for the school year 2021/22 show that the proportion of children persistently absent from primary school was 25% (compared with just 8.4% in 2018/19) and for secondary children the percentage was 34% (just 12.7% in 20218/19). Even when we adjust these figures to take account of periods of absence that relate to Covid isolation, the increases remain stark: 12.1% at primary and 20.8% at secondary schools. So, what can we do to support all children and young people to attend regularly and enjoy all the social and academic experiences that school can offer?
At the Anna Freud Centre, we use the term Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) as a broad umbrella term to describe the experiences of a group of children and young people who have severe difficulty in attending school due to emotional factors, often resulting in prolonged absences from school. We prefer EBSA to terms such as ‘school refusal’ or ‘truancy’ because it foregrounds the child or young person’s feelings about school. It can also be helpfully used to describe both persistent non-attendance at school and other behaviours that happen within school, such as not attending certain lessons or areas of the building.
The causes of EBSA can be many and varied, but will likely include at least some of the following:
- Uncomfortable feelings brought on by attending school, such as feelings of anxiety or low mood.
- A desire to avoid situations that might be stressful, such as academic demands, social pressures and aspects of the school environment.
- Separation anxiety or the need to have feelings acknowledged by parents or other family members.
The relevance and weight of each of these factors will vary for different children and young people, and a range of other factors (both in school and beyond) may contribute to EBSA, e.g. financial or other stresses at home and bullying or friendship problems at school. In very simple terms, the factors pushing these students away from school outweigh those that could pull them in. The interrelationship between these many factors can be complex and may leave school staff feeling frustrated and powerless to help.
Nonetheless, there are things that schools can do to support children and young people who are showing the early signs of EBSA, and to support those with significant patterns of non-attendance. Firstly, we recommend embedding a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing – our 5 Steps to Mental Health and Wellbeing is a free, evidence-based framework to help school leaders identify priorities and make mentally healthy schools a reality. Secondly, we suggest looking for solutions and approaches that emphasise feelings of safety, connection and belonging at school. This can look different for different children and young people but might include agreeing a key adult and/or safe space in school.
Perhaps the most powerful ingredient in any approach to EBSA is a commitment to hearing the perspectives, preferences and experiences of the child or young person. For many young people, participating more fully in school happens in small steps and requires regular conversations and reviewing of plans over time. Of course, for already over-stretched school staff, making the time and space to have the ongoing conversations needed to support students with EBSA is a challenge. In addition, the external pressures faced by school leaders regarding attendance can at times make it difficult for schools to look for solutions that take into account a child or young person’s need for a step-by-step approach.
One final thought brings us back to my last CST blog, where I asked Brenda McHugh from the Pears Family School to share her learnings about how to work closely with parents and carers to support children and young people at risk of exclusion. Unsurprisingly, much of the same advice applies to addressing issues of attendance. Building a relationship of trust and dialogue with parents and carers is key to helping a child or young person to overcome EBSA. Indeed, if we can spot the early signs, much can be done to collaborate with parents and prevent a pupil’s non-attendance from becoming a serious concern.
Find out more about our training courses for school staff on our website, including our Mental Health and School Attendance course. You may also find our Addressing emotionally-based school avoidance resource helpful. Or if you want to discuss bespoke training for your Trust or school, email school.training@annafreud.org.
The CST Blog welcomes perspectives from a diverse range of guest contributors. The opinions expressed in blogs are the views of the author(s), and should not be read as CST guidance or CST’s position.
