Make Use of Existing Supports
First, as outlined earlier, utilise any SSP supports within the school. If your school has a School Completion Programme (SCP) support, refer to SCP by using the SCP Intake Framework.
Good Practice Tip: When working with parents and guardians, it is important to have the most up-to-date information on services in the area, as there may be outdated preconceptions about engaging with services. We also recommend having a list of supports for parents to avail of through this process, as school avoidance affects more than just the child or young person. More information on services in Dublin 24 is available in Section 5.
Schools based in Dublin 24 might consider a referral to the Nova programme at this point. For more information on how to refer into Nova, and for information on if your school is eligible, please contact the Nova Coordinator.
Second, it is crucial to identify any possible unmet mental health or SEND needs as a separate issue that requires attention alongside the school avoidance behaviour. More information on these areas is available in Section 1. The return-to-school plan may need to be developed with further guidance from NEPS or the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
Good Practice Tip: Often when a child or young person is absent from school for a prolonged period of time, greetings or welcoming them back may draw further attention to their absence. This can be a significant cause of further embarrassment or anxiety. It is often best to allow the child or young person to reintegrate into the classroom without any specific attention being brought to their absence unless otherwise specified.
Areas for Consideration
Environmental
Positivity: There may be setbacks, but with the right support to develop skills and with supportive relationships in school, children and young people can successfully return to attending school full-time. If this is not a possibility for them, encouraging meaningful participation in other educational opportunities is another intervention area.
Routine: Establish routines and allow time for preparation and transition. Be flexible in your approach and allow for delays. Expect some setbacks when working with a complex case of school avoidance.
Relapse: Plan with the student and their family to prevent setbacks. Ask parents/guardians to work with you and inform you about any difficulties as soon as they occur. Keeping information and communication in real time is essential. Encourage everyone to try again if there are setbacks. Encourage the family and child or young person to see these as acts of bravery rather than failure.
Contextual Factors: The school can explore the impact of contextual factors, such as parents’ work schedules and separation, as well as any protective or supportive factors or strengths, such as a student’s interest in school, grades, and important relationships within and outside school. Look at the 4 Ps model discussed earlier.
Provide a Safe Space for Parents: School avoidance is often a significant worry for parents and a concern for the school. Parents might be fearful of engaging with the school if they feel they will be blamed, or they may feel ashamed to engage with the school.
School
Collaborative Approach: Work collaboratively with other agencies if they are involved and recognise the resources available in your community. Draw on these if they are relevant. Service mapping might be a relevant activity to carry out here. A list of services and their referral pathways are included in the last section of this toolkit.
Two-Way Feedback: Be constructive in your feedback to the child or young person and their family, and praise both effort and success. Support the parents/guardians in developing their understanding and skills to help the child or young person.
Steer Clear of Attributing Blame: When working with the child or young person, question what might be causing the school avoidance, but steer clear of attributing blame. Be careful with the language used. Use a strengths-based approach and positive, affirmative language.
Support and Supervision: Enhance support and supervision for the child or young person in school from key adults and peers. Children and young people should have suitable resources that are communicated to them and their family before returning to school. Use the ‘Check and Connect’ Model if in use in your school.
Positive Relationships: Encourage the child or young person to develop positive relationships in school. Consider providing structured peer support through a mentor programme or using ‘One Good Adult’. Use these valued relationships as rewarding positive factors to encourage and acknowledge successful attendance, especially if the function of school avoidance is attention from significant people.
Obstacles: Remove any obstacles that might prevent success if you can. Ensure that the work and activities provided are those the child or young person is motivated to try and can easily do. Grade activities and work where possible.
Timetable: Develop a consensual and graduated timetable for return to school by identifying the more positive aspects of school for the child or young person and begin by asking them to attend for these parts of the day. This will reconnect them with school and social interactions that take place there.
Early Return to School: Aim for an early return to school, even if only for a very short period each day, and build from there. This graded exposure involves a graduated return to school (stepladder approach). For example, you might suggest a child or young person come in for a tour of the school when there are no students in the building, e.g. after school, or that a child or young person attends their favourite classes only, such as Art or PE.
Create a Sense of Belonging and Safety for the Student: This can be done by creating a purpose for attendance (assigning small tasks) and encouraging the social aspect of school participation. Creating a positive lunchtime routine can also help the child or young person feel needed and connected to the school.
Child
Connect Home and School: For example, in school, have a photo in their pencil case or an object belonging to their significant person to reassure them that the person is supporting them even if they are not physically with them.
Thoughts and Feelings: Teach the young person about anxiety and how thoughts, feelings, body responses, and school avoidance behaviours can be linked, and the function of these behaviours.
Self-Regulation: Support them in noticing and monitoring their own feelings, thoughts, body responses, and behaviours (self-monitoring) and help them develop calming or self-regulation skills. Consider relaxation or mindfulness training with the child or young person.
Stressors: The school can identify the stressors and any behaviours that keep the school avoidance behaviour going (e.g. bullying).
Solutions: Collaboratively brainstorm possible solutions to problems with the student and a key family member. Acknowledge their feelings and difficulty but convey a belief that they can cope. Reassure them that the school will help them learn to do this. The more the child or young person feels part of the plan and empowered to make changes, the better.