Understanding and Responding to School Avoidance

‘School can’t’ AKA school avoidance is complex and there is rarely one simple reason why getting to, or staying at, school has become so hard. Understand what can sit beneath attendance difficulties and learn practical, evidence-informed strategies to intervene early, work collaboratively with families and support students towards sustainable engagement with school.

Intended audience

Wellbeing and pastoral staff, school psychologists, learning support staff, heads of year/house, attendance teams and school leaders; also relevant to classroom teachers.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

· Understand school avoidance as a complex presentation rather than a single diagnosis or behaviour.

· Identify factors that can contribute to difficulty attending, including anxiety, neurodivergence, learning demands, peer experiences, sensory load and family-system factors.

· Recognise early warning signs before attendance difficulties become entrenched.

· Understand how avoidance can be reinforced and why some well-intentioned responses can make returning to school harder.

· Develop practical, individualised return-to-school and attendance support plans.

· Balance safety, accommodation and flexibility with gradual re-engagement and increased capacity.

· Clarify the roles of the student, family, school and external professionals.

· Use collaborative communication that reduces blame and keeps the focus on sustainable engagement with education.