Contents
Struggling with persistent absenteeism, emotional barriers to school attendance (EBSA), or disrupted transitions? Attendance isn’t just about policy—it’s about well-being, trust, and emotional safety.
This interactive session will explore:
- The link between mental health and attendance – Understanding anxiety, school-based stress, and the emotional barriers to being in school
- The power of relationships – How connection before correction fosters trust and supports attendance.
- Practical, mental health-informed strategies – Tools to reduce school-related anxiety, rebuild confidence, and ease transitions back into school.
- Using Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy to create safe, supportive environments.
- Screen dependency & social pressures – Understanding the influence of social media and expectations on school avoidance.
This integrative and creative session is designed for teachers, pastoral teams, attendance officers, and senior leaders looking to move beyond punitive approaches and build compassionate, relationship-driven responses to attendance challenges. It includes a section on attachment as a two-way process, exploring how staff can experience compassion fatigue or disengagement when working with ambivalent families and young people. The training aims to support staff to reflect on their own emotional responses and develop strategies to prevent disengagement when working with families who seem resistant or avoidant. It balances practical strategies with emotional awareness.
Who is it for?
MANCHESTER SCHOOLS ONLY – Head teachers, Senior Leaders and Attendance Leads
Age phase
Primary & secondary
