Review by Fiona Atherton

Headteacher, Wrekin View Primary School and Nursery

3 May 2025, 5:00

Blog

The Conversation – with Fiona Atherton

Weathering school

Usually, a bit of sunshine makes everything better, but with the education system in a seemingly constant state of turmoil, it’s getting harder to stay positive about the future.

Children evidently feel the same. Whether due to shorter attention spans or easy access to the outside world, they are finding school life increasingly unappealing

In this context, the latest Education in Focus podcast on school avoidance really resonated with me.

This issue isn’t just a secondary school problem anymore. Increasingly, we are seeing school-related anxiety emerging in much younger children. And it’s not about them being ‘difficult’ or parents being ‘soft.’ It’s about real, often overwhelming distress that can be challenging to get to the root of.

Labelling pupils as ‘school refusers’ doesn’t help. It risks isolating families at exactly the point when they need us to listen.

So we need to ask ourselves some really difficult questions: What’s triggering this anxiety? Is there anything about our school environment that might be creating additional barriers? How can we adapt, rather than expecting children to simply cope?

Early identification and flexible approaches are key, but so is creating a culture where wellbeing isn’t just a policy but visible in everything we do. Strong relationships, genuine listening and collaboration with families and pastoral teams must sit at the heart of our approach.

School avoidance isn’t a behaviour to punish or a problem to ‘fix’. It’s a call for help, and if we heed it early, we can keep more pupils connected to their learning, their peers and their futures.

Sunrise clubs

Over on Facebook, a post by The Autistic SENCO about breakfast clubs really made me pause and think this week.

We have a lovely, well-used breakfast club at my school, and it is a hugely important service for lots of children and families. But is what we’re really doing “removing children from their homes earlier and earlier each day”? Are we in fact supporting a “system that forces both parents to work full-time, just to barely afford a home”?

The post makes a compelling case that “we need real solutions to support family life – not just band aids that make it easier for families to survive”.

It made me reframe breakfast clubs as another example of schools picking up what are societal challenges. And it left me unsurprised when news emerged in these pages that schools have been dropping out of the government’s pilot scheme for its breakfast club policy.

No matter how well-intentioned, we can’t just keep adding this kind of pressure on school staff. If we do, we can’t be surprised when we routinely have too few of them.

Grow your own

Speaking of which, I couldn’t find a blog or podcast on this but it absolutely must be part of our professional conversation. Last week, the government rolled out new statutory guidance on early years nutrition.

Another well-intentioned policy, I can’t help but feel that it’s pushing yet more responsibilities onto schools that should primarily lie elsewhere.

From September 2025, schools will be expected to ensure children up to age five get meals, snacks and drinks that meet specific nutritional standards. The standards are sensible, but there’s a glaring issue here: schools are being asked to pick up the slack for parents who are not managing their child’s nutrition in the way the government expects.

We already know that many early years settings are under-resourced, understaffed and struggling to manage complex needs. Now they will also have to meet these complex needs around food too.

So why isn’t the focus on real, systemic support for families and communities rather than another box to tick for schools?

Along with breakfasts and toothbrushing, schools are increasingly being asked to do the heavy lifting of child rearing. But expecting us to fill the gap left by a breakdown of the family institution isn’t just unfair; it’s unrealistic and arguably irresponsible.

How much more can we expect in the coming months? Let’s hope the sun keeps on shining at least.

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