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Health and Wellbeing

Spot and Support: Emotionally Based School Avoidance

Get a pupil who can't face school back in, one small planned step at a time, with their family alongside you.

  • 21 minutes
  • 7 modules
  • 0.5 CPD hours
  • Certificate

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14 days free, then £70 a year or £7 a month.

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What you'll learn

  • Explain the avoidance cycle and how EBSA differs from truancy
  • Spot risk factors and attendance patterns that call for early action
  • Build a graduated return plan the pupil helps to shape
  • Share routines like 'share it, shelve it, shout it' with families
  • Work with parents and carers as partners rather than blaming them

About this course

When a young person stays in bed on a school morning, the anxiety drops straight away. That relief is what makes emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) so hard to shift, and the longer it runs, the deeper it sets. It isn't truancy or bad behaviour.

You'll learn to spot the risk factors and act on attendance before it slides, then build a graduated plan with the pupil rating each step. Small adjustments help, like a reduced timetable, a safe space, or leaving lessons five minutes before the corridors fill.

Home matters just as much. There's a Monday morning plan and a simple "share it, shelve it, shout it" routine that helps children offload before they arrive. And you'll learn to work with parents who feel judged, so guilt turns into "what can we do next?".

  • For governors and mental health leads. Primary and secondary.

7 modules

Open in order

  1. Introduction

    1 min

  2. What is EBSA?

    3 min

  3. Risk factors

    2 min

  4. Protective factors

    1 min

  5. Support in school

    8 min

  6. Support at home

    6 min

  7. Closing thoughts

    3 min