Listening to the voices of parents and children: Emotionally based school avoidance and how it affects secondary school children.

Hello, I am a student at York St John, studying Education, SEN and Mental Health. For my dissertation I am exploring Emotionally Based School Avoidance with a view to understanding the experiences of children and parents. If this is an issue that affects you and your child is over 11 please could you complete the parents survey and then if you are willing, share the children’s survey with your child. It should take 10- 15 minutes and more information can be found via the links. If you have any questions please let me know - my email is Maisie.rees@yorksj.ac.uk The study has ethical approval from York St John University.

Parents survey link: https://yorksj.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3TWrCO3F4SYRxxs

Children’s survey link: https://yorksj.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9MudoQ4MaoSHSNU

THE HOME/SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN EXPERIENCING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE PROBLEMS AND BARRIERS.

Michael is a student at Leeds University doing his MA in Special Education Needs which includes a research dissertation on School Attendance Problems and Barriers (SAPB). This project aims to build upon recent research into the experiences of children, young people and their families when they are unable to fully participate in school. There are many reasons why children and young people stop attending school, including anxiety or depression, bullying, inappropriate academic or pastoral support and more. Often, there are multiple reasons, and research suggests that a personalised approach from schools collaborating with families is most effective. The research study focuses on this relationship or ‘partnership’ between home and school, to establish what constitutes ‘good practice’ from schools and what barriers might negatively impact this partnership.

SURVEY LINK

WANT TO SHARE YOUR OPINIONS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT AVAILABLE FOR YOUR CHILD?

We’re looking for parents and caregivers of children and young people at-risk of involvement in the youth criminal justice system to take part in an online interview to share their opinions about access to support for their child’s mental and emotional health. This could include support in schools, youth services, or through healthcare providers.

Whether or not your child has received support, we’d like to hear your views and opinions on what might help young people facing these situations. You might be eligible to take part if your child:

Has faced challenges in school, such as exclusion or suspension
Has experience of the youth criminal justice system or had contact with the police
Has other mental health needs

Why take part?

Share your thoughts on what works well and what doesn’t when it comes to support offered to young people. Help improve services for other young people in the future. Receive a £25 voucher as a thank you for your time.

What do I have to talk about?

We will ask some questions about mental health support for young people and your thoughts on it We won’t ask about your child’s specific experiences, but if you want to talk to us about them you are welcome to You can share with us as much or as little as you like You don’t have to answer anything that you don’t want to

Do I have to take part?

You don’t have to take part but we hope that you will because your thoughts and experiences are really important.

Details:

Where: Online (via Zoom)

How long: About 1 hour

Anonymity: Your personal information will be kept confidential and interviews will be completely anonymous. However, if you share information about harm to your child, we may need to pass this on.

For more information or to sign up, please email the lead researcher,

Dr Abigail Bentley: abigail@abresearchconsulting.com

HOW DO THE DFE ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES IMPACT NEURODIVERGENT CHILDREN?

Jo Brown is studying for an MA in Education & Social Justice and is seeking participants for her dissertation research survey. Here is Jo's request:

Hi i am a neurodivergent researcher and a parent of neurodivergent children. I am currently in the process of researching school refusal by neurodivergent children and i am looking for participants. The research will examine the attendance guidelines published by the DfE and how they impact neurodivergent children. The aim of the project is to seek revision of these policies to account for the difficulties faced by neurodivergent children within the education system.

There is a short survey to complete and then the option to participate in a follow up interview if you agree.

If your child is neurodivergent, based in the UK and is/has experienced periods of school refusal please consider taking part by clicking on the link below.

SURVEY LINK

PUPIL VIEWS: YOUR EXPERIENCE OF SCHOOL

Hello, We are a group of researchers who want to know more about your experiences in school.

We would like to hear from the community of children who are currently not attending mainstream school, this includes those who are home educated, attending an alternative from of schooling or who are out of school with no placement and feel unable to return.

This survey will ask you about your experiences of school and your reasons for not attending mainstream school, we are keen to have your voice heard and to understand more about your feelings towards not being in school.

Your answers will be anonymous, which means we don't know your name and your name can't be shared with anyone. We will use your answers to help understand your experiences at school and not being in school and to help us think about what could be different in the future. This might mean we write reports and host webinars which share your views anonymously, so other people can know what life is like for young people and what things we could do to make changes to the help you receive.

Experiencing difficulties at school can be difficult and have an impact on your emotional wellbeing. If you are finding things difficult please seek support. If there are things that really worry you please talk to your parents, carers or teachers. There are also a range of places you can go for help - such as Childline [0800 1111] or Kids Inspire which supports children and young people aged 5 - 18 years [01245 348707] or email cypcounselling.kidsinspire@nhs.net] and the Shout text service - to start a conversation, text the word 'SHOUT' to 85258

We look forward to hearing from you

SURVEY LINK

Calling Parents/Carers of children/young people in England

We want to hear from YOU!

We are a research team which includes researchers from Northampton University and parents who want to learn more about the barriers and enablers to education for children and young people. Many of us have personal experiences of this which why we are so invested. We have worked with a group of parents/ carers from the Not Fine in School Facebook community to design a survey that captures parent/ carer views and experiences within the education system.

More information is available via the link,

SURVEY LINK