I have a professional background in childcare and education. I was inspired to enrol at university as a mature student following close family experiences of school-based anxiety and attendance difficulties. Further extensive voluntary contact with other families developed through establishing an online peer support group. This highlighted that many families are experiencing similar issues in accessing help for children, which intensified my drive to improve understanding of school attendance difficulties.
My undergraduate dissertation explored family experiences of 'school refusal'. School refusal is the commonly used label for school non-attendance related to truancy. Here, children are inaccurately viewed as choosing not to attend, rather than being unable to attend. Triggers that are barriers to attendance often relate to unmet special educational needs or unsupported medical needs in school, bullying, and academic pressure. This dissertation along with my lived experience has inspired my current PhD research.