Putting children and young people's views at the centre: Section 2: What are the risk and resilience factors affecting the learner?

When considering any level of absence we first need to consider the immediate risk posed to a learner when they are not in class or in school and also how vulnerable they are to the negative impact of absence such as lost learning. For example, there may be an immediate safeguarding risk for a learner if they are not in class/school, and/or poor mental health and wellbeing, additional support needs, poverty (financial or digital), parents with little or no capacity to support their attendance or learning, or parents who don’t value education may make it more difficult for them to return to learning or catch up on lost learning (School Attendance and Mental Wellbeing,  Anna Freud). 

On the other hand, resilience supports attendance overall but will also support catch-up learning after an absence (see Appendix 1 for ideas about catch up learning). Resilience boosters, for example, personal strengths and protective factors such as, good mental health and wellbeing and self-esteem, a strong work ethic, supportive and able parents/carers, will all mitigate against the negative impact on learning of any absence regardless of the reasons for the absence (Protective Factors: Building Resilience and Well-being, Counselling Psychology 2024).  

Identifying risk and resilience factors will help determine the need for support and how urgently it should be provided. For example, for a learner with overall high attendance but who is also on the child protection register, any absence or lateness may cause significant concern. Alternatively, another learner who misses 10 days of school due to a mid-term holiday but whose parents can help them catch up on lost learning may cause less concern even if their overall percentage has dropped below 90%. Risk and resilience factors should be identified and balanced to determine when and if an intervention is needed.