Mental Health Issues Affecting School Attendance – What schools can do to support and hold to account

Course introduction

The government document ‘Summary of responsibilities where a mental health issue is affecting attendance’ published February 2023 states that ‘Schools should set and maintain high expectations for the attendance, engagement and punctuality of pupils who are anxious about attending school. It is important to recognise that, in many instances, attendance at school may serve to help with the underlying issue as much as being away from school might exacerbate it, and a prolonged period of absence may heighten their anxiety about attending in future.

This workshop will help school leaders, pastoral leaders, and those with responsibility for attendance address a number of key questions:

• What should school staff be doing to support pupil mental health?
• When is it appropriate for a pupil to be absent from school because of a mental health issue?
• How to facilitate support for children where mental health issues affect attendance.
• How to handle situations where parents and carers do not engage with or agree with support offered.

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Know government expectations around the support and challenge on mental health issues affecting attendance.
• Understand responsibilities, accountabilities and inspection expectations around mental health issues affecting attendance.
• Be able to apply learning from the workshop to produce an affective and impactful mental health attendance strategy for their own school.

See what others have to say about us

“I feel the training today has left me fully prepared to launch the Scheme to impact positively on the school community as a whole – an excellent day and very worthwhile. I would fully recommend.”

“Partnership working is an outstanding feature of the school. There are well established, excellent partnerships with parents and carers. The ‘learn with me’ days are very effective and parents are very positive about their worth. The ‘Family Values’ scheme is highly successful and encourages parents to undertake worthwhile activities with their children at home.”

“Excellent course – incredibly well delivered and really interesting and thought provoking. Looks to be a really good scheme and loads of help, ideas and activities to launch the scheme within the school. Will enhance the work I do as a parent support advisor. I know some of my families will love to do this.”

About the venue

Stay at home, get comfortable and enjoy our live interactive course via Zoom! You’ll receive the link a few days before the course date so you can get prepared (and excited) ahead of time.

Handy course logistics

• The course will run via Zoom from 1.00pm – 4.00pm, however, the trainer will be available 15 minutes before and after the course times to answer any questions.
• You’ll receive an afternoon breaks to re-energise.
• This course is designed to be interactive and inclusive. We welcome questions and discussions throughout and we want you to be comfortable and stress-free no matter where you join us from!
• Your course pack includes handouts, an M&S voucher for food, a snack, a pen and a notepad – we’ll send this to you before the day. Please note this is only for UK-based participants, international attendees will receive the pack via email.
• Additional links and information will be emailed to you before and during the course.
• This course is also available as an in-house / INSET training session at your school. Contact us for details.
• Please Note – the cost is per person