Family Outreach Programme: Addressing School Avoidance

Three-week family outreach programme implemented in November/December to support learners experiencing longer-term school avoidance. Recognising the need for innovative approaches and the already successful 1-2-1 coaching interventions by Happy Confident Kids on supporting learners back to school, the school invited families to participate in these novel sessions.

This initiative marked a new approach for the school in engaging with families facing challenges with school attendance.

Initial Observations and Immediate Impact:

Upon arrival at the school premises, both children and some parents displayed noticeable nervousness, likely stemming from prolonged absence. However, a significant shift in demeanour was observed immediately upon transitioning to the outdoor woodland environment, with both children and parents exhibiting increased relaxation.

Key Findings and Outcomes:

Creating Positive School Associations
Strengthening Relationships and Building Rapport
Establishing a Safe and Connected Space
Positive Impact on School Attendance

Feedback from Stakeholders:

Family Support Worker: Expressed feelings of calm, relaxation and peace following the sessions. They highlighted the value of interacting with families in a non-attendance-focused setting, observing a different and more relaxed dynamic. The enjoyment of being outdoors and participating in activities was also noted. They also observed children “coming out of themselves” and interacting more openly.
Teacher: Noticed a “massive positive change” in a specific learner’s behaviour and engagement since participating in the sessions with her mother, indicating a significant positive impact.
Parent: Shared sentiments of happiness being outdoors and together. One parent reflected on the positive impact of being present and disconnected from phones, rediscovering the enjoyment of simply being together.
Learner: Expressed enjoyment in attending the sessions with loved ones and participating in enjoyable activities. They valued the dedicated time spent with their families in this setting.

“It was a brilliant session, It was just so calming and lovely, the family were really responsive with what we did, they loved it. They had this lovely time together, time in nature, asked them about their feedback, talked to them about glimmers at the end and they said their glimmer was coming here and just having this time.” COACH

Conclusion:

The family outreach programme proved to be a highly effective intervention in addressing school avoidance. By providing a positive and engaging experience in nature, the sessions fostered stronger family connections, built crucial rapport with school staff, and created positive associations with the school environment. The reported improvement in learner attendance and the overwhelmingly positive feedback from learners, parents, teachers, and the family support worker underscore the significant value of this approach. This initiative demonstrates the potential of utilising alternative, relationship-focused strategies to re-engage learners and their families with the school community and connect them to the healing powers of nature.

Family Outreach Feedback

Family support worker feedback:

“I’ve just come out of this session feeling really calm and relaxed and just really peaceful, it has been lovely.

It was so lovely to be able to interact with the families in a different setting It was great to see those parents and kids together without talking about attendance or having meetings it was great to see that different dynamic and being relaxed in school. I also really enjoyed just being outside and doing the activities”.

Do you think the families enjoyed it as well?

“Oh yes, seeing them all interact with each other, and they were really calm and they all got into all the activities. Actually I have seen a different side to both the children, they’ve both come out of themselves quite a bit today which is nice”.

“I thought when somebody told me that I would be on the sessions ‘I’ve got so much work to do’, but I’m so glad I came out, I’ve really enjoyed it and I feel really calm and relaxed”

Teacher feedback:

“I have noticed a massive positive change in this particular learner since she took part in the ITW session with her mum. She has been much better, there is a massive difference in her.”

Parent feedback:

“This makes us happy, being outside, being together.”

“It was just so good, normally we are on our phones and we don’t talk to each other but when we’re not on our phones it has reminded us of just being together how much fun we have.”

Learner feedback:

“I like coming here with people that I like and doing something that I enjoy.”

“I’ve liked being here together doing this.”

“I liked having this time with my family.”

Coach Feedback:

“One learner who is normally quite quiet really opened up in front of all of us about different things, especially about things he’d like to do and we talked to him about going to football and things so everybody really opened up and felt supported. He said I like coming here with people that I like and doing something that I enjoy, so that was really massive that he said that and he meant all of us, so a really supportive lovely session.”