Emotionally Based School Non-attendance (ESBN)

Emotionally Based School Non-attendance (ESBN) is a term used to describe the needs of 

children and young people who have difficulty attending school due to high levels of worry or anxiety. This can often result in prolonged absence from school. 

Children may report feeling unwell (e.g. stomach-ache or nausea etc.) and may express negative thoughts such as ‘I can’t cope’ or ‘I can’t do it’. Naturally, children will try to avoid these uncomfortable feelings by not going to school. Whilst this feels better for a short time, it makes it harder to face up to going to school the next day, and in the longer term. 

The more a child/young person stays off school, the more worried they will usually feel about going. 

Please click on the link for more information:

Parent Leaflet for ESBN