Conwy's EBSA Pathway

School plays a key role in the identification of children and young people who are currently experiencing, or at risk of EBSA. It is important for schools to;

• Develop effective whole school systems to support young people,

• Be vigilant to early risk factors and attendance patterns.

• Employ a thorough assess, plan, do and review cycle placing the young person at the heart of interventions.

• Look out for potential indicators of EBSA 

Potential indicators
It is very important to be proactive with EBSA. The longer the problems remain unaddressed the poorer the outcome, as the difficulties and behaviours become entrenched. Schools need to be vigilant in monitoring attendance of young people noticing any patterns in non-attendance or changes to behaviours. 

Each person may have a different perspective on EBSA and have a different story to tell. It is essential that different people’s views are respected and differences in views are acknowledged. When there is a difference of views it is often more helpful to focus on how the behaviour is occurring rather than why.

Due to the complex nature of EBSA no fixed ‘assessment process’ can be followed. However, in all cases it is essential that the views of the young person, the family and key school personnel are gathered and listened to.

Working with the Child

Any child currently avoiding school is likely to become anxious when asked to discuss returning. They currently manage feelings of anxiety by employing the avoidant behaviour of not going to school, so any talk about going back to school is probably going to raise their anxiety as you are proposing to take away their way of coping with their fears. A good place to start any assessment with a young person is to acknowledge it may be difficult but you would like to know what they think and feel. It is important that the adult does not dismiss anxieties or worries the child has, empathises with the young person but does not collude or promote the EBSA.

The approaches taken will depend on the child’s age, level of understanding and language. Even if they are able, often children find it difficult to verbalise what they are thinking and feeling and they may prefer to draw what they are feeling or have visual prompts.

Some example activities or questions could include:

• Think about your thoughts and feelings about school and what these would look like if they could be drawn? 

• It also helps to externalise the anxiety:

- What name would you give the feeling that you experience when you think about going to school?

- If it was a thing, what would it look like? What would it say?

- How does the ____ get in the way of you attending school? When is ____ in charge and when are you in charge?

•  Ask them to draw how their body feels when they are worried.

• Use an anxiety thermometer or a scale to ask the child what aspects of school they find difficult, some areas to consider include:

o   The physical environment e.g. toilets, corridors, assembly hall

o   Times of the day or social interactions e.g. arriving at school, play and break times, lining up to go into school or classroom, lunch times, going home, changing for PE

o   Particular lessons or activities within lessons e.g. writing, working as part of a group, reading aloud, verbally answering a question

•  A life graph or path can help them tell you their ‘story so far’ and what they would want in the future

Working with Parents

Parents may find it difficult to talk about the concerns they have and the difficulties they experience in trying to get their child into school. It is important that school take time to build a collaborative partnership working together in the best interest of the child. Sometimes parents may have had similar experiences to their child and may experience their own anxiety making it especially difficult for them.

During the initial meeting, it is important to gather background information, establish the current situation and the parent’s views. Questions should be sensitive and the person asking should employ active listening skills. Examples of questions can be found in the table below. It is advised that regular contact is made with parents and school staff should identify who will be the key person to communicate with parents and agree how they will do this.

After the information gathering and analysis process has occurred a return to school or support plan should be made. All plans need to be co-produced with parents, the child and any other appropriate agencies. All parties need to be signed up. Each plan will be different according to the actions indicated by the assessment, what worked with one child will not necessarily work with another.

The plans should always be realistic and achievable with the aim of reintegrating the young person. An overly ambitious plan is likely to fail. The return should be gradual and graded and recognition by all that a ‘quick fix’ is not always possible. A part time timetable may be necessary as part of this process but this should always be temporary and not seen as a long term option as all children are entitled to a full time education.

All parties should be aware that there may be difficulties implementing the plan and these should be anticipated and solutions found. An optimistic approach should be taken, if the child fails to attend school on one day, start again the next day. Parents and school should anticipate that there is likely to be more difficulty after a school holiday, period of illness or after the weekend.

At the start of the plan the child is likely to show more distress and all should be aware of this. School staff and parents need to work together to agree a firm and consistent approach. Any concerns about the process should not be shared with the child, a ‘united front’ is recommended. Any concerns should be communicated away from the child.

Schools should take an individual and flexible approach to the young person’s needs. All school staff that will come into contact with the young person should be aware of the return to school plan and any adaptations to normal routines or expectations that are in place to support the child.

Once actions on a support plan are agreed with a young person, e.g. returning to school in very finely graded steps, stick to what has been agreed for that week, even if things seem to be going really well, as pushing things further than agreed can heighten anxiety, reduce trust and backfire overall. The format of the support plan should be flexible. If appropriate a young person’s version should be created. An example of a support plan is included in the resource sections. 

Literature has identified key elements of support that should be in place in order for a re-integration action plan to be successful

Once all steps of the pathway have been completed, the support and action plan can be put in place with the understanding of why the EBSA is occurring. There may need to be further interventions needed, depending on the function of the behaviour. Interventions and strategy suggestions are highlighted in the guidance. 

Review

It is essential that any plan is regularly reviewed. There should be set dates for reviewing how any support plan is progressing and key personnel to attend identified. It is essential that the young people and parents are actively involved in the review.

The review should identify and celebrate any progress made, review whether further information has come to light to help inform clear next steps. These next steps can include:

• Consolidating and maintaining the current support plan

•  Setting new outcomes and / or actions for the young person, school and parents

• Identifying that further consultation with other agencies needs to occur which may, if necessary, lead to a referral to other services.

If there is no progress, you should consider a referral to your Educational Social Worker.