2.6 Good Practice Guide for Schools

Consistent Home-School Communication

• Parental Literacy Strategies: Plan for varying levels of parental literacy in your school’s area.A multi-modal method of communicating messages to families may be needed, i.e., using verbal, written, digital, and visual formats to ensure effective information sharing with all families.
  
  
• Accessibility of Information: Consider developing or using materials which have been written in plain English. A guide to writing using Plain English is available on the NALA website or by clicking here. Prioritise simple, clear messages to ensure all parents and guardians understand key school information. This includes the promotion of supportive literature for parents regarding emotional well-being and mental health for children and young people.
  
  
• Cultural Support: Engage with local Link Workers for minority groups who may be able to assist with Home-School communication. These might include agencies such as Pavee Point or Tallaght Traveller Youth Service. They can use their expertise to bridge the communication gaps that may exist between the school and some families (more information is available in the online toolkit under Section 1.6).
  
  
• Annual Planning: Work with your school to develop a comprehensive annual strategy for enhancing parental engagement. Consider reviewing your plan with your school’s NEPS psychologist for feedback.
  
  
• Provision of Home Visiting: Home visiting is a core part of the work of the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL). See below for some guidance from TESS on the provision of home visiting. If you are carrying out home visiting as part of your role, TESS recommends adopting basic safety precautions such as:
  • Let your school office where you are going and when to expect you back.
  • Only use school devices to communicate.
  • Park car facing exits of estates.
  • Plan in advance what the purpose of your visit is.
  • Have a leaflet, welcome pack or small token gift like pens or school supplies to open the conversation with.
  • Inform parents in advance of when you expect to call.
  • Be mindful that dogs not on a leash may pose a risk.
  • Record all home visits and outcomes.

Planning for Key Transition Points

• Robust Transition Programmes: Consider developing transition programmes between primary and secondary schools where there might not already be one. These are increasingly important post-COVID as you may be working with children and young people who have already missed many critical transition points and have faced post-COVID learning disruptions. Link with School Completion Programmes (SCP) in your area that might be able to assist with more targeted intervention planning.
  
  
• Clear Channels for Information Sharing: Establish a clear, detailed information-sharing protocol between feeder primary schools and secondary schools. Share an ‘Additional Support/Students of Concern’ list of students to identify who may require follow-up early in the school year. Clearly earmark students who are at risk of school avoidance. Refer to your school’s Data Sharing and Data Protection Policies when devising channels for information sharing.
  
  
• Individualised Reintegration Planning: Plan for the child or young person’s return to school and have a structured and well-defined plan for which staff members will assume the responsibility of getting the child or young person caught up with schoolwork. This is important for the child or young person’s own planning.

Graduated Interventions and Reasonable Adjustments

• Trauma-Informed Practice: Adopt a trauma-informed perspective when developing support strategies. Carefully assess and implement interventions/reasonable adjustments that recognise the unique needs of the child or young person and the barriers which they may have encountered before they ever step through the school gates.
  
  
• Understanding the Complex Ecosystems of Children and Young People: Develop a comprehensive understanding of the multiple, interconnected systems that shape a child or young person’s life and subsequent experience with education/school, i.e., a child may be in care, or they may have a family member in prison.
  
  
• Coordinated Support Planning: Agree on what the school can realistically provide to make the return to school easier for the child or young person i.e., one-to-one tuition, mentoring, peer support, modifications to timetable, change of classes, provision of work at home, online connections, meetings in school. Ensure that all relevant staff are aware of the adjustments and have agreed to implement them.

Whole School Awareness

• Use Recognised and Agreed Terminology: Use the most up-to-date terminology and ensure that all staff are aware of the nuances in terminology for school avoidance, school refusal, and reluctant attendance.
  
  
• Audit Existing Documentation: Audit existing school documentation to ensure accurate school avoidance terminology is used throughout. Update references to ensure consistent, appropriate representation.
  
  
• Use a Cross-Cutting Approach: Using a cross-cutting approach, ensure that school avoidance is on the radar of different care teams within the school.
  
  
• Conduct up-to-date Needs Analysis: Conduct a needs analysis using student ‘getting to know me’ surveys and well-being surveys as information-gathering tools.
  
  
• Staff Awareness of Local Needs: Ensure that Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) or staff who are new to the locality are given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with local needs and presenting challenges for children and young people.
  
  
• Strengths-Based Approach: Use positive reinforcement and ensure the focus is strengths-based and on what is going well—praise the child or young person for being in/turning up. Ensure that school ethos and policies are aligned with this approach.

Clear Roles and Lead Responsibilities

• Distinct Role for Attendance Management: School avoidance and attendance issues, while linked, can have different root causes, so consider creating the role of an Attendance Officer within the school to assign specific attendance duties to one staff member. This will allow other staff to continue to support the wellbeing of students and parents.
  
  
• Role Differentiation: It is suggested that the attendance officer be separate from the Home School Community Liaison in the school setting so that differential relationships can be built with parents.
  
  
• Defined Point of Contact: Be clear from the outset on the key point of contact between the school and the family, child or young person. This may include Assistant/Deputy Principals, HSCLO, AEN Coordinators or Year Heads.

Programmes taught include Wellbeing, Resilience and Coping Skills

• Programme Audit: Review the programmes taught in the school and consider how they build on well-being or coping skills. Consider where there might be gaps to include or develop new programmes that promote resilience and coping skills.
  
  
• CPD Training for Staff: The school has trained staff who can develop and deliver structured programmes of therapeutic support based on certain approaches, i.e., FRIENDS programme with cognitive-behavioural component.