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Supporting Good Attendance

Good attendance at school plays a vital role in helping students achieve their full potential, both academically and personally.

Being in school every day allows students to build strong routines, develop positive relationships, and fully engage with their learning. Regular attendance supports continuity in lessons, boosts confidence, and helps students feel connected to their school community. By working together to promote and support good attendance, we can ensure every child has the best possible opportunity to succeed and thrive.

How To Support A Child Who Doesn’t Want To Go To School

If your child is refusing to go to school, this is known as school avoidance, school refusal or school phobia and is often caused by fear and anxious feelings. It’s natural for parents to feel concerned and want to get to the bottom of what’s behind it, but there may not be just one single cause. 

In this video, Eddie Marsan shares advice from NHS mental health professionals for parents concerned about their child avoiding school with five quick tips that may help.

Eddie Marsan Video

Making An Anxiety Iceberg Together

 

Sometimes it can be difficult to work out what’s making your child feel anxious, and the first step is often helping them to identify exactly what’s worrying them. Once you understand the problem, you’ll be in a much better position to make changes that can help.

Young people can find it hard to explain what’s causing their feelings, and might not be able to answer direct questions like ‘what’s going on?’ Using an anxiety iceberg can help to open up the conversation – giving you a more relaxed way of exploring together what’s causing their anxiety. Clear explanation in the video link below.

School Anxiety and Refusal - How Parents Can Help Their Child Get Through Tough Times

School phobia, or school-related anxiety – sometimes called 'school refusal' – is when your child feels fearful or anxious about school and/or is unable to go to school. It’s also referred to as emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) or anxiety-related absence.

 

Check out the main article for parents from the BBC via the link below:BBC Article

Let's Talk About Anxiety

Brain Basics: Anxiety for Kids

How To Make A "Self-Soothe Box"

To learn more about making a "Self-Soothe Box", click here:

Young Minds "Self-Soothe Box"

Creating a "Worry Box"

 

In this guide there are instructions for making a place for your child to put their worries, so you can then have a space to reflect on solutions together. Children can find them soothing because they:

  • give them a physical way of getting rid of their worries, so they don’t need to carry them around anymore

  • make them feel safer by holding their anxious thoughts for them

  • help them to understand that thoughts are just thoughts, not real things that happen in the world, and that it’s possible to let them go

  • create a routine for sorting out their worries and sharing them with you

This guide is written for parents of primary-aged children. Teenagers may also find a worry box helpful, and they can make and use the box using the instructions on the web page - but they might prefer to do this by themselves. 

Using a diary is another way to support older children who have good literacy skills. They can record their worries and choose when to share them. Nothing is forgotten because it is recorded, but they are in control of what they share. It can be a good way to build resilience by suggesting they note it down and then if it is still taking up a lot of head space, they share it with you, a family member/friend or a trusted adult at school.

Creating A Worry Box

Managing Sleep Challenges

We all know everything feels worse when you are not sleeping well.

This booklet has some great ideas about supporting good sleep - known as ‘sleep hygiene’. 

You could also try this sleep diary for home, to get an idea of the challenges you are facing together and there is another one with resource ideas in the booklet.