The driving question for this functional model: Why does my child not want to go to school?.   

Academic disagreement if we should differentiate over reasons for absenteeism – leave with parental consent, with social anxiety and those who truant. Recommend using the term ‘school refusal’.  

School refusal may be linked to diverse mental health disorders – separation anxiety disorder (SAD), generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), schooling-related events (ridiculed, criticised in front of others, sent to HT) or depression 

4 main reasons that justify school refusal (Kearney & Spear 2014): 

1. Avoiding negative affect provoked by school stimuli (negatively reinforced) -avoid school because when you do you feel sad/depressed? Do you have negative feelings towards school thinking about it at the weekends? 

1. Escaping social aversion situations (negatively reinforced) – if easier to make new friends, would it be easier to go to school? How often do you avoid people from school, compared to others your age? 

1. Seeking significant others’ attention (positively reinforced) – would you prefer if your parents went to school with you?  Would you prefer being taught by parents at home than teachers in school? 

1. Seeking tangible reinforcements outside of school setting. (positively reinforced) – how often refuse to go as want to have fun outside of school? Prefer to do things out of school than most boys & girls your age? 

PISA – student attitude towards educational centre. (PISA – student satisfaction) 

School refusal for children –  SAD, GAD, school phobia. Adolescents – also related to depression 

Defined terminology: 

School anxiety or stress is defined as a set of unpleasant physical and cognitive symptoms that appear as a response to global and specific school stressors.  

School phobia – specific situation (educational institution) phobia  

School truancy – repeated unjustified absence (not based on anxiety or with parental consent)  

Absenteeism was more prevalent in areas of deprivation.  

Complexity of issues – requires partnership interventions – students, parents, teachers, specialists need to participate in the intervention with the same aim of achieving schooling for all students in the shortest time possible.  

Many interventions based on CBT – gradual exposure, and contingency management. In vivo exposure, social skills training, therapeutic contract, coping skills.  

Identify main factors of school refusal: 1) sociodemographic variable, 2) anxiety, 3) depression, 4) academic factors & 5) family factors. 

Suggest further exploration of digital in supporting school refusers to access learning.  

Recommends the design of a new assessment instrument and an intervention programme.  

Looking at 3-5 year olds to catch any absenteeism early and prevent habitual patterns being created.  

How could/does digital support school refusers? 

Have the scales with specific measures to assess school refusal behaviour been updated or is there a prevalent one used in Scotland? (SRAS-R-C(main international one) , FSA, SAS, SRPE) p40 

PISA student satisfaction data.