Islington Council is rolling out a new protocol to tackle emotional-based school non-attendance (EBSNA), aiming to provide schools with the tools and resources to understand and address the reasons behind children's absence. The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee heard about the new protocol at their meeting on Tuesday 30 December 2025.

This new protocol emphasizes understanding the 'function' of a child's non-attendance to develop effective interventions, moving away from terminology that locates the difficulty within the child. Dr. Jill Sasseni, Principal Educational Psychologist, explained the terminology that is now used to describe the phenomenon previously known as 'school refusal', and how understanding the 'function' of a child's non-attendance is crucial to developing effective interventions.

Dr Jill Sasseni, Principal Educational Psychologist, presented the council's new EBSNA Protocol for Schools. She outlined four main reasons for non-attendance, as identified by researchers Kearney and Silverman:

  1. To avoid uncomfortable feelings brought on by attending school (like anxiety, low mood or low self-esteem)
  2. To avoid situations that might be stressful (like academic or social pressures)
  3. To reduce separation anxiety or to gain attention from significant others
  4. To pursue 'tangible' rewards outside of school

The protocol is designed to help schools understand and meet the needs of children who are not attending school. The key principles of the protocol are:

  • Know the child and intervene early to ensure a rapid and positive return to school.
  • Good attendance depends on effective whole school approaches for supporting wellbeing and belonging, inclusive environments, trauma informed approaches and adaptations to the learning and the environment
  • Effective support requires a responsive Team Around the Child (TAC), where the family, school staff and outside professionals can work together collaboratively in a trusting, blame-free and respectful relationship
  • The Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle is used at key decision points to assess progress against outcomes to determine if more targeted or specialist professional support is required
  • Support at key transition points is important.
  • School staff have easy access to a range of tried and tested resources, audits and templates - to avoid having to re-invent the wheel.

The EBSNA Protocol for Schools includes a range of tried and tested resources, audits and templates - to avoid having to re-invent the wheel. The protocol emphasizes that Effective support requires a responsive Team Around the Child (TAC), where the family, school staff and outside professionals can work together collaboratively in a trusting, blame-free and respectful relationship. The Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle is used at key decision points to assess progress against outcomes to determine if more targeted or specialist professional support is required.

The protocol includes a range of tools and resources to help schools identify the function of a child's non-attendance and develop bespoke support plans.

Dr Sasseni explained the next steps for the protocol include:

  • Seeking approval from the SEND Partnership Board
  • Launching this version in schools and settings in the spring term
  • Presenting the protocol at SENCO, Deputy Heads, Senior Mental Health Leads and Parent Carer forums
  • Further work to explore the prevalence of EBSNA
  • Considering the development of additional resources for children and young people, parents/carers, and siblings
  • Ongoing review of impact on attendance and outcomes for young people

Further work to explore the prevalence of EBSNA is listed as a next step for the protocol.

The committee acknowledged the hard work that has gone into developing the protocol and expressed their hope that it will make a difference to the lives of children and young people in Islington.

More information can be found in the meeting transcript.