If a pupil is starting to have attendance difficulties or worries, it is important to be curious and try to understand what’s going on. Although some worries may seem small, they can feel impossibly huge for children and young people. If you can help to identify what’s concerning them, you can start to work together to try to reduce or resolve the worry.
Attendance difficulties can often be a ‘symptom’ of other worries so it’s important to keep an open mind. If we are able to support a pupil’s sense of belonging, wellbeing and access to learning, it’s likely to address their attendance difficulties.
When working with a pupil to gain their views and understand any worries they may have, it is important to:
- be curious and openminded – do not dismiss any anxieties or worries. It is important to remember that a pupil’s worries can seem small to us, but feel significant to them.
- empathise and validate the pupil’s feelings. It’s important they know feelings of worry are normal, and that you understand how difficult it must feel for them.
- try not to jump to giving solutions or ideas. It’s useful to give pupils time to come up with their own ideas and solutions. If they find this difficult, you could offer tentative suggestions such as “I know that some children worry about not being able to find their classroom. Is that something you feel worried about?”
Techniques to gain children and young people’s views
Some pupils will be able to express their views easily and may have a good sense of their worries and the support they need. However, other pupils, including children with SEND, may need support to express themselves and may find it hard to be open about their worries. When working with a pupil, it is important to consider the pupil’s age and level of understanding.
Consider various methods to help the pupil express their views effectively using diverse techniques such as verbal communication, drawing, questionnaires, or card sorting activities. The following may be useful when gaining a pupil’s views:
- Taking a walk while speaking can be beneficial, as some pupils find it easier to speak when not in direct eye contact. You may find it helpful to gain their views in a more informal way, for example whilst kicking a football or completing some craft activities.
- A card sorting activity, like School Wellbeing Cards, may allow pupils to express their feelings via the cards which can also serve as a starting point for further discussion.
- Utilising a questionnaire, such as the ‘School Views Questionnaire’, can help pupils articulate views that they struggle to verbalise otherwise.
- For some students, drawing activities like the Ideal School Activity can provide a means for them to express their feelings about school.
- Some pupils find it helpful to ‘RAG rate’ their timetable, colouring lessons in as red, amber or green depending on how they feel about it. This can generate useful discussions.
- Be creative! You can make your own activities by making and printing your own cards or using post-it notes. You could even make resources specific to a pupil’s interests to make the activity engaging for them.
Using a pupil’s views to support planning
It is important that alongside gaining pupil’s views, we make sure to use what they have told us to make the changes they might like to see, put support in place, or to feed into school planning. When pupils are involved in decision-making processes, they feel valued and respected, which can enhance their motivation and engagement in learning. This can be especially important for pupils who are experiencing emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), who can feel that many aspects of their school experience are out of their control.
Involving pupils may include:
- Gathering their views and feeding these back to others on their behalf.
- Using frameworks such as the ATTEND framework to gain their views and put plans into place.
- Inviting pupils to meetings, or parts of meetings, where plans will be discussed.
- Discussing ideas and plans with children before and after meetings and discussions. They may be able to tell you what they feel able and unable to do and what help they might need.
Resources
- School Wellbeing: Risk and resiliency cards.
- School Wellbeing Cards – video tutorial
- School views questionnaire: primary and secondary.
- Risk and Resiliency Questions
- Lumi Nova: Lumi Nova is a therapeutic game that helps children aged 7-12 years self-manage worries and build resilience.
- The Ideal school activity can support pupils to express their thoughts and feelings around school through a structured drawing activity.