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CPD Training Handout


Understanding School Refusal


(Also known as Emotional-Based School Avoidance, School Phobia & other names)


School Refusal is an anxiety-driven emotional response where a child is genuinely unable to attend school. It is not defiance, poor behaviour, or lack of boundaries. It is not truancy, a choice but a reaction to an extreme sense of fear.  Symptoms can be physical, emotional, or behavioural.


Key Symptoms

  • Morning panic, meltdowns, or shutdowns
  • Physical symptoms: nausea, shaking, stomach pain
  • Freeze response: hiding, refusing to leave the car/house
  • Sleep problems or exhaustion
  • High distress about separation from parent
  • Refusing to sleep
  • Attachment to devices (helps deplete anxiety)


Core Principles for Staff


Responding with empathy, flexibility, and a trauma-informed approach reduces anxiety and supports recovery.


Best Practice


  • Stay calm, predictable, and reassuring
  • Remove pressure to immediately resume full attendance
  • Offer gradual reintegration plans
  • Use co-regulation strategies
  • Allow safe spaces and trusted adults
  • Use flexible timetables or phased returns


What Not To Do

  • Do not threaten sanctions (these increase anxiety)
  • Do not use physical prompting, force, or persuasion
  • Do not use behaviour policies in a rigid manner
  • Do not dismiss parental reports of distress
  • Do not insist the child “must” attend without assessing wellbeing
  • Do not break promises or breach trust
  • Do not remove devices as punishment


Legal Duties Schools Must Follow


  • Equality Act 2010: mental health difficulties can be a disability; reasonable adjustments must be made.
  • SEND Code of Practice 2015: identify SEMH needs early, provide graduated support.
  • Children & Families Act 2014: rights to EHCP assessment when needs are significant.
  • Education Act 1996 Section 19: LA must provide alternative education when a child is too unwell to attend.


Responding to SRSS Letters (Overview)

Each SRSS letter has a specific purpose and signals a required response.

  • Letter 1: Log the concern and initiate SENCO involvement
  • Letter 3: Pause attendance escalation
  • Letter 6: Request LA Section 19 education
  • Letter 12: Investigate harmful practices
  • Letter 13: End all physical prompting
  • Letter 14: Create a mental health safety plan


Supporting Reintegration


  • Child-led pacing - minor steps
  • Shared planning with parent & child
  • Flexible expectations
  • Predictable routines
  • Regular wellbeing check-ins
  • Don't try to rush reintergration or put threats or punishment against doing better or faster.


Summary


School Refusal is treatable when approached with compassion, flexibility, and a legally informed framework. Schools play a crucial role in reducing distress and ensuring the child feels safe enough to learn.


School Refusal Support Services
www.schoolrefusal.online