Overcome school worries: Expert tips to support your child and help keep them in class.
School plays a fundamental role in a child’s development and has a big impact on their overall well-being.
While many children enjoy school and thrive in an environment where they can be with friends and take part in different activities, it is also completely normal for them to go through a phase of mild worry about going into school - perhaps after school holidays, a period of sickness, or due to a fall out with friends and it can be difficult for parents to know what to do for the best when these feelings surface. Before Covid, persistent absence had been decreasing, from 16% in 2010/2011 to
11% in 2019/2020, according to government statistics. But following Covid, there has been a significant increase in absences from school. The government is working on this, and there are around 380,000 fewer pupils who were persistently absent or not attending in 2022/23 than in 2021/22. But it is still the case that more than one in five children in England have frequently missed school over the last academic year, a figure which has more than doubled, compared with pre-pandemic numbers. Department for Education research suggests there are a number of reasons that absence from school has increased. Some children experience severe anxiety, or have complex needs or underlying conditions, that mean that school can be challenging. Where this is the case, parents can also talk to teachers and a healthcare professional, like a GP, if they haven’t done so already for guidance. For many children though, their worry is mild and temporary. In most cases, missing school is likely not the best or only option. Doctor Sophie Mort, clinical psychologist and
mental health expert at Headspace says: ‘It’s understandable that children can resist going to school when anxieties are heightened, and it’s often hard for parents to know whether to allow them to stay at home or encourage them to feel the fear and go in anyway. Being open and sharing experiences of when you have struggled can help your children. “Kids and teens frequently experience a lot of stress and feelings of high pressure, and in many cases, don’t yet have the tools to understand or process these complex emotions. And whilst children are navigating the challenges of getting older, school can be a hard place to be both physically and mentally. Perhaps they’re becoming more conscious of their appearance, or of their different upbringings, or maybe they just see the world in a different way.”
To help you to gain a better understanding of what could be driving your child’s worry and gently encourage them to talk it through, enabling them to keep going to school, there are tips advice and resources available.