Simple Strategies to Support Students with Emotional Based School Avoidance

The first signs of emotionally based school avoidance are easy to miss. Stomach aches on a Monday, one maths lesson skipped, asking to stay in at playtime. By the time attendance drops, the anxiety has usually been building for a while.

You'll learn to spot EBSA early and find out what's behind it. That means weighing what's pulling a child towards home against what's pushing them away from school, across the child, the family and the school itself. Then you can build a plan with the pupil and their parents, rather than one that's done to them.

The advice on returning comes from a former primary headteacher: an online chat with a key adult, then a visit at home, then meeting in the school grounds before going inside. Don't rush the next step. One pupil stopped coming when an hour a day was stretched to a whole morning too soon.