Emotionally Based School Avoidance
When a child wants to go and cannot. A half day for schools, colleges and the services around them.
- Duration
- Half day, three hours of CPD
- Group size
- Up to 20 delegates
- Delivery
- Delivered online live, or in person at your site
- Included
- Handbook, evaluation and certificate
EBSA separated from truancy and from withheld attendance, why avoidance grows, and how to build a graduated return plan that survives a bad week.
Who it is for
- Tutors, teaching assistants and pastoral staff
- SENCOs, ALNCos and attendance leads
- Education welfare officers and social workers
- Colleges, alternative provision and hospital education
What delegates will be able to do
Assessed learning outcomes, written as actions rather than as topics covered. They are the same list the delegate handbook opens with.
- Describe emotionally based school avoidance, and what it is not
- Separate it from truancy, from withheld attendance and from being unable to attend
- Explain why avoidance grows, and why relief is what maintains it
- Identify push and pull factors, and the function an absence is serving
- Recognise the signals that appear before the attendance figure moves
- Hold a first conversation with a young person and with a parent
- Build a graduated return plan that survives a bad week
The programme
Taught in this order. Each section builds on the one before it.
- 01What we are actually looking at
- 02Why this child, why now
- 03Noticing it early
- 04The conversation
- 05The plan that holds, and action planning
Evidence base
The course is built on the EBSA and school refusal literature, including Kearney and Silverman's functional model, Thambirajah and colleagues' handbook for professionals, and the good practice guidance issued by local authority educational psychology services. It is aligned with the Department for Education's statutory guidance on school attendance. Full references are in the delegate handbook.
Related clinical service
Where a young person needs more than a school-led plan, Blip runs a structured six-session EBSA programme with a named clinician and school liaison built in. Buying the training does not commit you to the service, and the two are quoted separately.
Who delivers it
A registered clinician who is also a qualified teacher, holding a live caseload in the presentations taught. That combination is the reason this half day sounds different from a generic CPD session: the school examples come from having taught, and the clinical examples come from current practice.
What you get back
Collected from the first delivery, not retrofitted when a tender asks.
- Pre and post knowledge check, used to evidence learning gain
- Anonymous delegate evaluation, results shared with the commissioner
- Optional written reflective assessment for CPD or revalidation evidence
- Attendance register and individual certificates
- Attendance records retained for six years
Fees
In-house delivery for your own team, at your site or online. Travel is included within Shropshire, Cheshire, Powys and the Wrexham and Oswestry area, and charged at cost beyond it.
In person, at your site
From £750
Delivered online live
From £600
Open course place
£95 per delegate
Every quote is specific. Cost depends on delegate numbers, location and whether you want the content adapted to your setting. Tell us what you need and we will quote properly rather than sending you a rate card.
Only one or two people to train? This course also runs as a scheduled open session online. See the dates.
What this course is not
- It is not a therapy qualification and does not authorise anyone to assess, diagnose or treat a child.
- It is not a diagnostic tool, and it is not a substitute for your own attendance or safeguarding policy.
We are explicit about this with delegates in the first ten minutes.
Free, one page
EBSA: the first fortnight
A one-page checklist for the two weeks after a child stops making it through the school gate, when what the adults do next decides how long this lasts.
- What to do in the first 48 hours, and the three things that make it worse
- The questions that find the actual trigger, and the ones that close a child down
- A simple return plan template, with the conditions that make it hold
Common questions
How long is Emotionally Based School Avoidance and how is it delivered?
Half day, three hours of CPD. Up to 20 delegates. Delivered online live, or in person at your site.
What does Emotionally Based School Avoidance cost?
In person at your site, from £750. Delivered online live, from £600. An open course place is £95 per delegate. Travel is included within Shropshire, Cheshire, Powys and the Wrexham and Oswestry area, and charged at cost beyond it. Every quote is specific, because cost depends on delegate numbers, location and whether you want the content adapted to your setting.
Do delegates get a certificate?
Yes. Every delegate gets an individual certificate and there is an attendance register. A pre and post knowledge check evidences learning gain, and an optional written reflective assessment is available for CPD or revalidation evidence. Anonymous delegate evaluation results are shared with the commissioner, and attendance records are retained for six years.
Who delivers Emotionally Based School Avoidance?
A registered clinician who is also a qualified teacher, holding a live caseload in the presentations taught. That combination is the reason this half day sounds different from a generic CPD session: the school examples come from having taught, and the clinical examples come from current practice.
Blip is an independent mental health service for ages 7 to 25 as well as a training provider. The two are quoted separately.
Book this course for your team
Tell us the numbers and the term you have in mind, or email training@blip.org.uk. We reply within one working day.