Children should feel they can influence their education and school life
It’s important that children feel listened to and have control over their lives. If they feel that they have no influence over decisions and actions, this can impact on attendance.
Children and young people can feel worried or nervous about school for lots of different reasons, ranging from making friends to worries about exams.
Although some worries may seem small to parents they can feel huge to your child. If you can help to identify what’s concerning them, you can then start to work together to try to reduce or resolve the worry.
Encouraging your child to talk
Some children and young people are happy to talk about the things they find hard, but others can find this difficult. If your child finds it hard to talk to you directly at home, you could try:
- going for a walk and talking while you are moving, sometimes it is easier to talk to others when not directly looking at them
- sharing with your child any worries you might have had about going to school and inviting them to talk about anything that is concerning them
- playing a guessing game, asking them to indicate ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘a bit’ when you say something that you think might be a cause of their worry
- getting them to speak to another trusted adult who they may feel more able to discuss their concerns with
- asking them to write it down, email or text you
- drawing how they are feeling
Talking to your child’s school
- Speak with your child’s school to see if they have any concerns or might know what is worrying your child.
- Ask school staff to speak with your child. There may be an adult at school who your child has a good relationship with and would be happy to speak to. Schools have different resources and materials which they can use to help your child share their views.
- Consider with your child’s school if an external professional is needed to help identify your child’s worries.
Helping your child have their voice heard
It is very important that your child feels that they can have their voice heard and they can have an impact on their education and school life. If your child has stopped going to school, but continues to show an active interest in attending, it is important to continue to:
- speak with them about their thoughts and feelings about their future education goals. Children’s views can change over time, so it is important to continue to revisit these conversations (if your child is comfortable with this).
- get your child’s view about any plans that are being developed around their school attendance. They will be able to tell you what they feel able and unable to do and what help they might need.