Exploring Parental Experiences of Support from Professionals for their Child with School Non-Attendance and Developing Best Practice: An Appreciative Inquiry Approach

For most children and young people, regular attendance at school is a positive experience which provides rich opportunities for social interaction, personal and academic development. However, some children have difficulties with attending or remaining in school for the day. School non-attendance has been linked with a range of negative outcomes for children, their families, schools, and the wider community. Within this area, there has been limited research that has sought the views of parents of children who experience school non-attendance, with much of the research base being situated within the medical model that operates from a within-child and within-family factors related to school non-attendance. This has implications of the support that is on offer for children and their families.

The current thesis explores what is currently known about school non-attendance through a systematic literature review process. Following this, a substantive part of it focuses on the primary study undertaken, which aimed to answer the research questions of:

1. What are the perceptions of parents of children who experience school non-attendance regarding the support that is on offer from both school staff and external agencies?

a. What do parents feel are the facilitators and barriers to support?

2. What changes do parents feel could be implemented to support both the child and their family to help increase their child’s attendance?

The study utilised a qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of eleven parents whose child experienced school non-attendance. The data generated from the semi-structured interviews was analysed inductively utilising Thematic Analysis (TA). Key themes that were constructed through the analysis included The Search for Power; The Effects on Parents; The Parents Journey to Understanding; Parents Feeling Victimised; The Effects of Significant Changes in the Learning Environment; The Best of Support from Services; The Systems Aren’t Working and The Future of Support. This was followed by a focus group which employed an Appreciative Inquiry approach with three of the parents to explore the changes that they felt could be implemented to support their child and their families. The findings of the primary research broadly mirror the existing literature, however parents actively looking for evidence to justify their perspectives and a fear of contagion appear to be novel findings. Insights and implications for professional practice were framed utilising the coconstructed provocative propositions, highlighting the importance of relationships, increasing professional understanding and valuing children and their families’ perspectives.