If your child or young person is starting to find going to school a struggle, is missing lessons or days at school, or has not been in school for a while, then our new web pages and factsheets are for you.

Going to school includes information about attendance and the law, your responsibilities as a parent and the difference between authorised and unauthorised absence. It also gives practical information about what to do if attendance starts to become an issue and how you can work with school to improve things.

Struggling to go to school is about Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA). That’s a term used to describe children who are struggling to go to school, or to stay in school or lessons, because of an emotional need. We know from the calls we get to our enquiry line that this is becoming more common and that many parents struggle to know what to do, or what support is available. This is a full guide to the topic and includes:

• What EBSNA is and what causes it.
• What it looks like in a child or young person – how they might be behaving and the physical signs.
• How to talk to your child about it and get support for yourself.
• What you can do to help.
• The help that is available through school and other places.
  
  

As always our information is based on the questions parent carers ask on our enquiry line and is created with input from parents and relevant professionals.

You can find the information on our website or contact us for a printed or electronic copy of the PDF.