ABSTRACT

Children’s absence from primary school is associated with lower attainment and social difficulties, and persistent absence at this age often continues or worsens as children progress into secondary education. It is therefore important to intervene early to interrupt this negative trajectory. This study used individual semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives of eight members of primary school staff, who had experience supporting children with difficulty regularly attending school, from both mainstream and special primary schools in England. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants perceive school non-attendance to be a complex and challenging issue that can have a significant negative impact, and can be caused and maintained by multiple factors related to the child, family and school/education. Participants believe prevention is key and identify several different social/emotional and learning-focused interventions they have used to support children to attend school regularly, with varying degrees of success. Participants emphasise that success of any intervention relies strongly on collaboration between parents, school staff and other agencies involved. Findings from this study suggest that sufficient resource, early intervention, development of a school community, collaboration with families, liaison with other professionals and targeted evidence-based strategies are all important in improving attendance in this age range.

摘要

儿童缺课与较低的学业和社会困难有关，并且随着儿童进入中学教育，这个年龄段的持续缺课通常会持续或恶化。因此，重要的是尽早干预以中断这种负面轨迹。本研究使用个人半结构化访谈来探讨来自英格兰主流小学和特殊小学的八名小学工作人员的观点，他们有支持定期上学困难儿童的经验。使用主题分析对数据进行分析。参与者认为旷课是一个复杂且具有挑战性的问题，可能会产生重大的负面影响，并且可能由与儿童、家庭和学校/教育相关的多种因素引起和维持。参与者认为预防是关键，并确定了几种不同的社会/情感和以学习为重点的干预措施，以支持儿童定期上学，并取得了不同程度的成功。参与者强调，任何干预的成功很大程度上取决于家长、学校工作人员和其他相关机构之间的合作。这项研究的结果表明，充足的资源、早期干预、学校社区的发展、与家庭的合作、与其他专业人士的联络以及有针对性的循证策略对于提高这个年龄段的出勤率都很重要。参与者强调，任何干预的成功很大程度上取决于家长、学校工作人员和其他相关机构之间的合作。这项研究的结果表明，充足的资源、早期干预、学校社区的发展、与家庭的合作、与其他专业人士的联络以及有针对性的循证策略对于提高这个年龄段的出勤率都很重要。参与者强调，任何干预的成功很大程度上取决于家长、学校工作人员和其他相关机构之间的合作。这项研究的结果表明，充足的资源、早期干预、学校社区的发展、与家庭的合作、与其他专业人士的联络以及有针对性的循证策略对于提高这个年龄段的出勤率都很重要。