Thousands of children across England are completely absent from school - whether a mainstream setting, special school or alternative provision - due to emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA).
Not only is this a tough reality for those children but it is also hugely stressful for families, with one partner often having to give up their job to be at home, severely undermining income and therefore impacting on the household.
Emotionally based school avoidance
Given this situation, it is vital that those of us working with pupils experiencing EBSA do all we can to help get them back into education in a suitable manner and make sure any return is sustainable and long-lasting.
As a specialist teaching and inclusion service, we identified a significant need locally for EBSA support and created our Pathways programme - an alternative provision that uses a three-step process to help children, some of whom have not been in school for years, return to an educational setting.
Since the conception of Pathways, we have had a 100 per cent success rate of supporting pupils who have completed our pathway to get back into a setting, and we were delighted that this work helped us to win the Alternative Provision of the Year Award at the Nasen Awards in October.
So what did we do and how does it work?
A three-step scheme
The first stage in the programme is for the pupil to be assigned a specialist teacher, who will remain with them throughout their journey with us. This teacher initially gets to know the pupil and their family at home or in an environment that makes them feel safe and comfortable.
The teacher then works with the pupil to complete an activity, such as walking the dog or visiting a park, while asking subtle, non-confrontational questions about why school attendance causes issues. If they don’t feel comfortable leaving the house, it may be done through comic strip conversations or Lego therapy.
Doing this not only helps staff to build a rapport with the young person and their family, it also allows the specialist to understand the pupil’s barriers to attendance and their support requirements.
With these insights we can then move towards stage 2, which involves building up a pattern of sustained attendance in our setting, which usually equates to around three half-days across a week.
These sessions involve the pupils working in a small groups of up to five with specialist staff who support them with communication and interaction, self-regulation and social, emotional and mental health needs.
At stage 2, the holistic assessment of need also takes place, with specialists from various disciplines assessing core areas such as cognition and learning, identification of any specific learning difficulties (SpLDs), sensory needs, motor coordination, play therapy needs and so on. This provides evidence for education, health and care plans, target setting and for reviewing individual progress.
Multi-disciplinary support
This trans-disciplinary support is fundamental to what we do because it ensures that all facets of a student’s return to school are overseen, and that adaptations are made as soon as possible.
To stay on top of this, the team meets all day every Thursday to discuss each child in detail and ensure that all relevant information is shared, assessment findings are discussed, changes are noted and adaptations are agreed to maintain attendance.
Once a regular pattern of attendance is established and the holistic assessments are completed, we can identify the most appropriate type of longer-term setting - eg, mainstream, autistic pupil bases, specialist schools and so on - and support the pupil to the final stage of our pathway: our stage 3 provision.
This involves attending a second site where curriculum is reintroduced, with pupils having lessons in maths, English and vocational areas of learning.
These lessons are adapted to meet need, with specialist teachers supporting to ensure an appropriate delivery approach, such as through structured learning using the TEACCH approach or with multi-sensory learning.
Subject teachers, although specialists in special educational needs and disabilities, are supported by our wider specialist teaching team to ensure that materials and lessons are designed to meet individual needs. In addition to studying for qualifications, our secondary-age students also have careers guidance to support them with their next steps.
Full-time returns
By building this up we aim to reach a point where pupils are in a position to return to a setting full-time.
At the point of transition, a detailed overview report is given to the receiving school highlighting the pupil’s strengths and needs; the pupil has a detailed transition plan created, with supported visits; training is given to the school; and, finally, the pupil’s specialist teacher completes checkpoint visits to review and adapt learning plans and provide additional support to maintain attendance.
Finally, as an exam centre we can support our secondary-age students with sitting functional skills English and maths examinations (Entry Level through to Level 2), ensuring that our Year 11 students have every opportunity to leave with qualifications that could help them in their next steps.
Ultimately, school avoidance is in no one’s interest - least of all pupils. By working with pupils and their families we help to find the best route back into education in a way that works for them.
We owe it to our young people to find the best ways to support them, and we believe our work - as the results show - gives them the best shot possible.
Mark Loveday is head of service at Chadsgrove School Support Services, winner of the Nasen Alternative Provision of the Year Award 2023
