EBSA and the new school attendance guidance

With the new regulations and thresholds regarding school attendance many families are concerned about the impact on their family holidays. However, there is an insignificant number of families worried on how their children struggling with emotionally based school avoidance will be impacted by the changes.

There are some key things to know if you are in this category about the about guidance:

• For children struggling with their attendance, the approach used should be support-first.

• 'Supportive approaches are most effective when they are put in place as early as possible and therefore it is essential all partners work together in a timely manner. If a pupil’s absence requires support from an outside agency which is not provided quickly (e.g. subject to a waiting list), schools and/or local authorities should consider other avenues of support or other temporary solutions whilst waiting.' (Working together to improve attendance)

• In cases of both long term physical or mental ill health, school staff are not expected to diagnose or treat physical or mental health conditions, but they are expected to work together with families and other agencies with the aim of ensuring regular attendance for every pupil. They should:

  • Facilitate any relevant pastoral support with the clear aim of improving attendance as much as possible whilst supporting the underlying health issue.

  • Consider adjustments to practice and policies to help meet the needs of pupils who are struggling to attend school, as well as making formal reasonable adjustments under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 where a pupil has a disability. Any adjustments should be agreed by, and regularly reviewed with the pupil and their parents.

  • Ensure joined up pastoral care is in place where needed and consider whether a time-limited phased return to school would be appropriate, for example for those affected by anxious feelings about school attendance.

  • Make a sickness return to the local authority if a pupil is recorded in the attendance register as absent using code I (unable to attend because of sickness) and there are reasonable grounds to believe the pupil will have to miss 15 consecutive school days or more for illness or the pupil’s total number of school days missed during the current school year because of illness (whether consecutive or cumulative) will reach or exceed 15 school days.

• Medical evidence for recording absences should only be needed in a minority of cases (see code I). Where a pupil’s health need means they need reasonable adjustments or support because it is complex or long term, schools can seek medical evidence to better understand the needs of the pupil and identify the most suitable provision in line with the statutory guidance in supporting pupils at school with medical conditions or arranging education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs.

Of particular importance to many families is the difficulties surrounding medical evidence. Many schools are asking for evidence, sometimes this is justified and other times it may not be. The extent of the evidence requested can also be high, which should not be the case. The guidance continues to state:

363. Schools are not expected to routinely request that parents provide medical evidence to support illness absences. Schools should only request reasonable medical evidence in cases where they need clarification to accurately record absence in the attendance register – i.e. making a decision that code I is the absence code that accurately describes the reason the pupil is not in school for the session in question. In the majority of cases a parent’s notification that their child is too ill to attend school will be that evidence and can be accepted without question or concern. Only where the school has genuine and reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the illness should medical evidence be requested to support the absence.

364. Where medical evidence is deemed necessary, school should not be rigid about the form of evidence requested and should speak to the family about what evidence is available. Schools should be mindful that requesting additional medical evidence unnecessarily places pressure on health professionals, their staff and their appointment system, particularly if the illness is one that does not require treatment by a health professional. Where a parent cannot provide evidence in the form requested but can provide other evidence, schools should take this into account. Where a parent cannot provide any written evidence, the school should have a conversation with the parent and pupil, if appropriate, which may in itself serve as the necessary evidence to record the absence

Therefore, one of the most important steps to take is to ensure that health related absences are recorded accurately.

It can also be beneficial to reach out to your local SENDiass service about what is available locally. For example, one local authority has a call-in educational psychologist advice line one day a week which can be helpful for parents to receive some one-off advice with some suggestions on next steps. Proactively seeking out avenues of advice and support can help show the school you are working towards resolving the issue.

With the changes in rules, it is particularly important to be aware that the threshold for fixed penalty notices (or further action) can be hit by being regularly late past the close of the register. For example, I supported a family recently whose child could not handle the morning rush so was being dropped off at 09.05, 5 minutes after the closure of the register and was being marked as late every day. This eventually resulted in a FPN being issued, despite the fact that those 20 minutes in the morning enabled the child to attend the entire rest of the school day. Previously schools had the choice as to whether or not to refer for fines, now they must and therefore this sort of scenario could become more common place.

It can also be helpful to keep a diary of the difficulties you are facing. Making notes each day of concerns expressed, behaviours, anything you have tried both directly with the YP or with external support are all well worth recording. This can help demonstrate that it is a can't attend, not a won't.

Hopefully this provides some clarification on the changes and the impact for children or young people struggling with EBSA.