Dr Rebecca Torrance Jenkins, former Head of Science and advisor in neuroscience informed pedagogy and school design, will explore the underlying reasons why some children struggle to attend school. Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) refers to situations in which emotional, psychological or nervous system stress leads a child to avoid or be unable to sustain school attendance.
UK literature suggests that between approximately 1 percent and 5 percent of the school aged population experience absence related to emotional factors such as EBSA. In England during the autumn and spring terms of 2024 to 2025, 17.63 percent of all school pupils were persistently absent, meaning they missed at least 10 percent of possible school sessions. This represents about 1.29 million pupils.
Although this figure includes all reasons for absence, it highlights the scale of the attendance challenges within which EBSA sits. For a significant proportion of these children, simply being in school is so stressful that attending full time becomes impossible. What is it about the system that creates this level of distress? And what can we do to change it?
In this talk, Rebecca will examine the mismatch between what school environments ask of children and what their nervous systems are able to manage. She will argue that the basic conditions children need in order to learn and thrive are often removed, particularly in secondary education. Presented from a compassionate standpoint that avoids blaming teachers or parents, the session will explore how schools and systems can better meet the needs of all children so that more of them can attend, participate and succeed.
This is a CEN seminar.