Sharing Student Projects

This research looked into the experiences of persistent absences in secondary school aged children (11-16 years old) with SEND. Persistent absences refers to children with a school attendance of under 90% (DfE, 2022a). It aimed to identify the initial signs that the child displayed when not wanting to come to school, as well as the effectiveness of strategies used in school to support the child. The study focussed on two schools, one mainstream school and one special needs school. The study aimed to involve parents of secondary school aged children with SEND who were persistently absent and members of the school attendance team. The study recruited five members of staff working in attendance, three from the special needs school and two from the mainstream school. Each attendance team formed a focus group, where they were interviewed together on Zoom. The study also recruited four parents in total, two from each school. All parents were interviewed individually on Zoom. All interviews and focus groups were recorded and transcribed to allow the researcher to find common themes and differences in the data. The findings of the data were categorised into three themes; the importance of understanding pupils’ behaviour in identifying persistent absences, in-school support: a bespoke approach and holistic support. Understanding of the pupils’ behaviour showed that children with SEND may display different behaviours as a sign they do not want to go to school. This study found differences in behaviour displayed between school and home. Internal signs such as withdrawal is consistent with literature, however less is known about the aggressive behaviours mentioned in the data sets. There was also a need for in-depth monitoring and tracking of attendance to identify persistent absences in school. This is frequently recognised as an identification strategy in literature. There were clear limitations found in regards to the child’s voice on their feelings towards not attending school. This is also seen in the literature, where there is a lack of children being involved in this research. The two additional themes linked to the effectiveness of school strategies. A bespoke approach to strategies in school was seen to be the most effective to supporting persistent absences, including having knowledge of the child’s triggers and needs. There were also barriers identified in this area, showing that mainstream schools may be limited to how much they can reduce triggers and support individual needs compared to a SEND school. This is consistent with literature which identifies SEND schools as having additional knowledge and resources. A holistic approach was seen to improve the effectiveness of the strategies in school. This included the benefits of a home-school relationships, child- teacher relationships and the involvement of multi-agency teams. This is also consistent with literature. Overall, this study has identified the range of initial signs that may need to be considered when identifying persistent absences in children with SEND. It has also highlighted what can contribute to effective strategies to support persistent absences, with some being more effective than others. There is a clear need for more research in this area focussing in the specific impacts of SEND needs to enhance guidance in these areas further.

This study could be beneficial for a range of stakeholders involved in working with children with SEND who are persistently absent. School staff working with children with SEND who are persistently absent would benefit from knowledge around initial signs of persistent absences. This includes awareness that there could be more aggressive behaviour in the home context, encouraging staff to build empathetic relationships towards the families and their circumstances. Knowledge of the factors that have been highlighted to facilitate effective in school interventions could be beneficial to enable schools to consider them in intervention plans. They may also be useful to build into attendance policies to spread awareness with families and staff. The study would also be beneficial for parents to be aware of. The acknowledgement of other parents being in a similar position may reduce any feelings of isolation for parents, as well depersonalising from any behaviour their child is displaying with the challenge of going to school. They may also benefit from the awareness of effective strategies in school to recognise the advantages of working with other schools and agencies to support their child. This study encourages the sharing of information from home to school and provides an explanation for how this can benefit the child. Finally, multi-agencies such as educational psychologists could benefit from reading this study. Educational psychologists may be consulted to help support a child, therefore awareness in this specialist area would be advantageous. Being able to support with identification and effective strategies could provide schools and families with additional information to support their child. It could also impact different provisions that the multi-agencies work in, sharing good practise and recognising possible barriers of persistent absences in children with SEND.