Questions teachers ask, answered plainly.
Each guide answers one question from real classrooms in England: what is going on, what to do and say, and where your part ends. Every figure and legal point is sourced and dated.
School anxiety and attendance
What is emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA)?
Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) is when a child or young person struggles to attend school because of anxiety or other emotional factors, not because they have chosen to be elsewhere. It is a ‘can’t’, not a ‘won’t’. Absence caused by mental ill health counts as illness, and the earlier school responds, the easier the way back.
Read the full guide →What do I do when a child won’t go into school in the morning?
Keep the handover short and agreed in advance: the parent says one warm line and leaves, and you take the child. Get down to their level, speak quietly, name the feeling and the ending, and offer a small choice that leads inside. Avoid both force and sending the child home, and raise repeated mornings with your SENCo.
Read the full guide →How can I support an anxious child moving up to Year 7?
Plan the move before it happens and give the child one named adult on the other side. Pass on what helps and what doesn’t, let them see the building early, and agree a quiet base and a daily check-in. In lessons, keep things predictable. If attendance starts to slip in the autumn, raise it with the SENCo straight away.
Read the full guide →How do I help a student whose anxiety peaks at exam time?
Take pressure off rather than adding it. Make revision small enough to start, flag the student to the SENCo early so any access arrangement becomes their normal way of working, and rehearse the exam room in advance. Keeping the student connected to school matters more than any single grade. Signs of self-harm go to the DSL the same day.
Read the full guide →Can parents be fined if an anxious child misses school?
Not for absence correctly recorded as illness. Penalty notices only apply to unauthorised absence, and the statutory guidance says illness includes mental health and is authorised (Code I). A fine is only considered after 10 unauthorised sessions in 10 school weeks. If the absences have been coded as unauthorised, the position changes, so the coding matters.
Read the full guide →When is a part-time timetable allowed?
Only in very exceptional circumstances, when it is in the pupil’s best interests, as a temporary measure. It must be agreed with the parent, sit within a wider support or reintegration plan, have regular reviews and a proposed end date, and be recorded in the register, normally with Code C2. It must never be used to manage behaviour.
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Behaviour and the classroom
How do I de-escalate a child having a meltdown in class?
Steady yourself first, then make the room safe: move anything dangerous, not the child. Reduce noise and audience, approach slowly from the side at the child’s level, and use a few quiet words such as ‘I’m here. You’re safe.’ Wait for the storm to pass. Talk about what happened only once the child is calm again.
Read the full guide →How do I avoid a power struggle with a defiant student?
Decline the invitation. A public challenge has two exits, forcing it through or backing down, and you lose at both. Breathe before you speak, keep your voice low, use the smallest response that works, offer a real choice about how rather than whether, and leave the student a way to climb down. Deal with the rest privately afterwards.
Read the full guide →How do I deal with low-level disruption in class?
Respond as quietly and briefly as you can: a look, a gesture, moving closer, then the pupil’s name plus the task. Deliberately let harmless one-offs go, and give attention to joining in before a child has to disrupt to get it. Routines taught and practised from the first week prevent most of it.
Read the full guide →Is it a behaviour problem or a safeguarding concern?
Often you can’t tell, and you don’t have to. Behaviour can be how a child shows that something is wrong. If a change in a child worries you about their welfare, write down what you saw and tell your Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day. The DSL decides what happens next. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Read the full guide →How do I talk to parents about their child’s behaviour?
Open with something true and good about the child, then describe what you saw rather than judge it. Ask what the parents see at home, agree one shared goal and one small step for each side, and set a date to check in. The relationship is easier if your first contact with home wasn’t a complaint.
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