Emotionally based school non-attendance: two successful returns to school following lockdown

A meta‐ethnographic understanding of children and young people's experiences of extended school non‐attendance

“…Crucially, these findings reiterate the need to gather pupils' views early and to seek to understand their difficulties before they become entrenched. Not only does gathering pupil views promote positive wellbeing and engagement (Reid et al., 2010), but it will also support those working with children and young people to effectively individualise support and to target those factors which are prominent for the individual (Corcoran et al., 2022). Furthermore, by using appropriate terminology and considering young peoples' views on their non‐attendance, negative perceptions and misunderstandings around their needs can be challenged and their sense of belonging in school can be increased.…”

“…Rather, it is suggested that a range of ‘push and pull’ factors interact between the home, school and young person themselves (Kearney and Graczyk, 2020). Intervention, therefore, requires an interactionist, functional view of such difficulties, with identification and intervention taking place as early as possible to mitigate the impact of risk factors and to promote protective factors, which support school attendance across eco‐systemic levels (Corcoran, Bond and Knox, 2022; Nuttall and Woods, 2013).…”

“…Effective intervention for school attendance difficulties requires an understanding of the perceived causal and perpetuating factors, including from the perspective of the young person and their family (Corcoran et al., 2022; Purcell and Tsverik, 2008). Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Section 19 of the Children and Families Act (2014) set out the right of every child to express and have their views taken into serious consideration in all matters affecting them.…”

Emotionally based school non‐attendance: Development of a local authority, multi‐agency approach to supporting regular attendance

“…It was therefore agreed by the group that clearer guidance about roles and responsibilities and a graduated approach to effective intervention were required, alongside training for schools and local authority teams to promote consistency and raise awareness to facilitate earlier identification and intervention. Within this, a need to reinforce pupil and parent voice was agreed, in line with previous research and best practice in this area (Corcoran et al, 2022;Corcoran & Kelly, 2023). The group agreed to continue meeting half-termly (SM2-6) to share and review this progress and plan further actions.…”

“…Existing literature and professional guidance suggest that effective intervention to maintain or increase attendance should be provided as part of a graduated approach and in collaboration with children and young people and their families (Corcoran et al., 2022; DfE, 2023; Kearney & Graczyk, 2020). This is in line with the UK's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice (DfE & DoH, 2014), which details that a graduated approach should include effective whole‐school practice, early identification and intervention at a Special Educational Needs Support level, with specialist professionals becoming involved if difficulties worsen or do not respond to earlier intervention.…”