EBSA toolkit
6. Push and Pull Factors
School avoidance occurs when stress exceeds support, when risks are greater than resilience and when ‘pull’ factors that promote School non-attendance overcome the ‘push’ factors that encourage attendance.
The steps below illustrate how negative experiences become pull factors overtaking the push factors that encourage attendance:
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School |
Home |
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Push factors (towards attending school): • Friendships at school • Academically able and achieving • Enjoys certain subjects/learning • Good self-esteem & self-worth • Key and trusted adult relationship(s) |
Pull factors (away from attending school): • Separation anxiety • Change in family dynamics • Family member unwell • Bereavement & loss • Difficulties sleeping |
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Pull factors (away from attending school): • Prolonged absence from school • Difficult relationship with peers and/or school adults • Concerns regarding schoolwork & difficulties with learning • Anxieties related to certain subjects • Difficulties with learning • Exam pressures • Worried about getting into trouble & consequences • Overwhelming sensory processing need |
Push factors (towards staying at home): • Avoidance of challenging interactions • Reduced anxiety when at home • Avoidance of schoolwork |
(Taken from Somerset Information and Guidance for Schools and educational Settings.)