Not Fine in School was created as a resource for the growing numbers of families with children experiencing school attendance barriers.
These barriers often relate to unmet Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (diagnosed or suspected), physical or mental illness, bullying & assault, trauma, excessive academic pressure, overly strict behaviour policies, a missing sense of belonging, and an irrelevant curriculum.
School attendance barriers are poorly understood, incorrectly managed, & are compounded by current challenges within education, health & local government systems. This problematic response often has severe consequences for both child and family.
At the heart of Not Fine in School there is a Facebook support group with a membership of 78,000+ parents, carers & other family members. This offers a space for shared lived experience and peer empowerment.
What we do
Support
Empowerment
Empowerment
We facilitate peer-support for family members, and we share advice for young people, and professionals.
Empowerment
Empowerment
Empowerment
We share resources to help you make decisions, find solutions, & take positive steps for your family.
Awareness
Empowerment
Awareness
We take part in academic studies and conduct research to help raise awareness of related issues.
SQUARE PEG'S CALLS TO ACTION
SURVEY: OUTCOMES IN ADULT LIFE
We hope to find out how adults retrospectively view their experiences in relation to school attendance difficulties.
We also hope to learn more about the longer-term outcomes experienced in adult life, following school attendance difficulties.
PLEASE PLEDGE & SHARE
SUPPORT THE UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE FILM
This initiative aims to create a beautiful, broadcast quality short film that shows the human cost of the UK Attendance laws, and the impact of those broken policies on children and parents struggling with special educational needs: fostering empathy, and inspiring change.
Not in School Research
YOUNG PEOPLE
Have you ever struggled with going to school or spent time learning outside of school? We’re inviting young people to a research interview to better understand experiences of school non-attendance and its impact on mental health.
🌍 Open to young people aged 11–21 across England.
PARENTS or CARERS
If your child has experienced barriers to attending school, we’d like to understand your family’s journey. Your perspective will help us learn how schools and services can better support children’s education and mental health.
🌍 Open to parents/carers of children aged 5–16 across England.
PROFESSIONALS
We are looking for education, public health and children’s services professionals to take part in a short interview.
🌍 Open to professionals across England.
DfE ATTENDANCE Guidance
DfE Campaign: Moments Matter Attendance Counts
Not Fine in School - Our Response
Every Moment Matters. That’s the title of the Department for Education’s campaign which is aimed at boosting attendance in England’s schools. With attendance rates still well below pre-pandemic records, and the findings published from a recent survey via Centre for Social Justice, it seems that a campaign full of smiley children and young people skipping along is exactly what parents need to remind them to send their children to school when they have a sniffle, ‘mild anxiety’ (whatever that is), a stomach ache and more.
However, it seems that every moment doesn’t matter when it comes to long referral times for support. That’s if you can even get a referral to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), or for an autism or ADHD assessment. Then there are the many local authorities unable to adhere to their statutory 20-week deadline for issuing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). With requests to both these services alone exponentially growing, an educationally-minded public health campaign has certainly jarred with the 52,000 members of our parent peer support group.
Not Fine in School and Square Peg agree that moments matter. So too does Wellbeing, Support and Understanding. When you have a child with barriers to school attendance, they certainly don’t go skipping into school. They certainly don’t miraculously feel better when they’re there. And to all of the professionals who say ‘They’re fine when they’re here”, let us remind you that those same children probably won’t be ‘fine’ when they get home, they may not sleep that night, and they certainly won’t be ‘fine’ the next morning before school.
Because, unless something changes, children and young people with barriers to school attendance –whether that’s unmet special educational needs, bullying, poor mental health, physical health conditions, disabilities, poverty, bereavement, duties as a young carer, looked-after status, ethnicity, to name just a few – need support.
So, our message if you’re a parent or carer struggling to navigate your child’s barriers to school attendance is that we see you. We hear you. We’ve got you. Don’t listen to the parent blame, don’t give into the parent guilt. You know your child best – continue to listen to them and put them first, always.
Wellbeing Matters, Support Counts.
