Develop local solutions for improving school attendance, particularly for children who have special needs

Prof Caroline Bond

Prof Bond is a Professor of Educational Psychology at The University of Manchester. Her research specifically focuses on the social inclusion of neurodiverse children and young people within schools.

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According to statistics provided by the Department for Education (DfE), more than one-fifth of children in England, and over a third of children with special needs, struggle to attend school consistently. Despite national government campaigns aimed at parents, the underlying issues at the local level remain unaddressed.

Now is the time to...

• research on a local level to understand the reasons behind school absence, particularly for high-risk groups;
• undertake collaborative research with local stakeholders to develop and evaluate new approaches at school and local authority levels;
• support schools to ensure all staff feel able to support pupil attendance and to implement local authority attendance guidance in primary, secondary, and specialist schools;
• continually evaluate innovative approaches, for example the use of remote telepresence technology;
• increase opportunities for multi-agency working to support schools and families of children and young people with severe attendance difficulties.

Find out more

• Boaler, R., Bond, C. and Knox, L. (2024) ‘The collaborative development of a local authority emotionally based school non-attendance (Ebsna) early identification tool’, Educational Psychology in Practice
• Fletcher, M., Bond, C., & Qualter, P. (2024). 'Using AV1 robots to support pupils with physical and emotional health needs', Educational Psychology in Practice
• Neilson, C., Bond, C. (2023) ‘After a long period of being in hibernation – These little green shoots were growing’. Lived experiences of effective support for autistic young people who have experienced extended school nonattendance', Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs

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