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Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSN) for professionals

Information and guidance on Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSN) for professionals.

School attendance is not only important for academic achievement, but to support the holistic development of young people as citizens within their community (Pellegrini, 2007). Childre and young people not engaging in education are ‘at significant risk of underachieving, being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life’ (DfE, 2016, p.5). Disengagement with education can result in reduced access to support programmes and professional input. Long-term outcomes and difficulties associated with school non-attendance include: reduced future aspirations, poor emotional regulation, mental health difficulties, limited academic progress and reduced employment opportunities (Gregory and Purcell, 2014, Hughes et al, 2010, Lyon and Cotler, 2007, McShane et al, 2001). Detrimental effects are evident in individuals’ learning and achievement, with many disengaging from education all together (Carroll, 2010).

There is a group of children and young people whose reluctance to attend school becomes so entrenched due to emotional factors that they often experience lengthy absences from school. This is known as Emotionally Based School Non-attendance (EBSN) – however, it is important to note that EBSN isn’t a medical condition in itself.

The term ‘non-attendance’ is used rather than ‘refusal’ or ‘avoidance’, as children in this situation often want to go to school and aren’t refusing or avoiding, they simply feel as though they can’t attend. The children concerned won’t have control of the feelings and the easiest way to avoid them is to avoid school. Some children are even in school but not attending lessons, therefore not engaging in the full aspect of school life.

Onset of emotionally based school non-attendance may be sudden or gradual and is most common during adolescence. It is equally common in males and females (Ingles et al, 2015, Kearney, 2008). Thambirajah et al. (2008) stated that identifying and supporting young people at risk of emotionally based school non-attendance may be challenging due to children’s difficulties in communicating their distress, and difficulties that families and school staff have in understanding a child’s emotional experience of school. For some young people, it may be obvious in their presentation of extended non-attendance and distress, for others they may not be so easily identifiable. These young people may have inconsistent attendance, missing odd days or particular lessons, for others they may be only able to attend with high levels of support or modified timetables. Less recognised than that are those that may attend but are not engaged in school activities.

It is also important to note that some young people with emotionally based school Non-attendance may appear to recover relatively quickly from the initial upset of the morning, which may lead some to dismiss the possibility of emotionally based school Non-attendance. However as Thambirajah et al. (2008) highlights, it is important to hold in mind models of anxiety, as it is not unusual for the anxiety to quickly dissipate once the perceived threat is removed.

What can schools and further education settings do

Educational settings should follow the graduated response when EBSN or non-attendance has been identified:

Interventions to support EBSN

After the information gathering and analysis process has occurred an ‘action plan’ should be co-produced with parents, the child or young person and any other professionals involved with outcomes that focus on a return to school.

The outcomes on the action plan should be individual to that child and therefore each plan will be different. The outcomes should be realistic and achievable with the aim of reintegrating the child or young person. The return should be gradual and graded. A part time timetable may be necessary as part of this process, but this should always be temporary and not seen as a long term option as all children are entitled to a full time education.

An optimistic approach should be taken, if the child or young person fails to attend or carry out the actions as described in the action plan one day, start again the next day. It should be anticipated that there is likely to be more difficulties following a weekend, illness or school holiday.

At the start of the plan the child or young person is likely to show more distress and everyone involved should be aware of this and work together to agree firm, consistent approaches. A unified approach is recommended between all involved and any concerns should be communicated away from the young person.

Key elements of a plan

The literature in this area has identified key elements of support that should be in place in in order to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration.

These are:

a return to school at the earliest opportunity
early home visits if appropriate to discuss the child or young person reluctance to attend school
all parties to agree actions and keep them until the next review date
a personalised programme for each child or young person
ensuring the child or young person’s needs are clearly communicated with all staff in the setting
identification of a key member of staff who can be approached by the child or young person if anxiety becomes temporarily overwhelming in school
a safe space in school that the child or young person can go if needed.
consideration of what support the family requires

School legal duties regarding non-attendance

Schools have a duty to notify the Local Authority of cases of irregular attendance and continuous absence. This includes schools maintained by the local authority, academies, free schools and independent schools. To notify us, schools can log onto the Children’s Services Portal and complete the relevant form within the ‘In Year Admissions, Transfers, Absence and PTT Notifications’ section. It should be used to notify of the following authorised or unauthorised absences:

10 days continuous absence (including if the child is likely to be absent for more than 15 days due to illness or injury)
irregular attendance or regular absence where attendance is not improving despite ongoing school intervention
update to any previous notification - this should be done at regular intervals (suitable to that case), or if new information has been received
where a part time timetable or pastoral support plan has failed and attendance has not improved or has deteriorated further (previous part-time timetable notifications should have been submitted)
where a child is marked present but is not receiving a suitable education, for instance if a child's anxiety is preventing access to a classroom

Schools should also notify the Local Authority of any cases where a child is accessing reduced or part-time education arrangements. The form for this can be found in the above section on the Children’s Services Portal as well.

Resources and training

The Educational Psychology Service have produced guidance on ‘Identifying and Support Children and Young people with EBSN’. They also offer training to accompany the guidance which can be found on the CPD portal.

Download:

WCF EBSN Guidance (PDF)

West Sussex have produced toolkits and resources for educational settings to support children and young people with EBSN.

The Anna Freud Centre have also produced training and resources to support schools with EBSN.