She estimates that there will be two or three serious refusers in every school of 1,000 pupils. But there will be a lot more who suffer anxiety but are able to hang on to some level of attending.Paul Senior has more cases on his books than Tansey suggests is average. As the Inclusion and Counselling Coordinator at Mallory School, a mixed comprehensive of 850 pupils in Lewisham, south London, Mr Senior's team is currently working with 10 to 15 hardcore cases, out of a total departmental case load of 170 children with a variety of needs, and five or six of these have panic attacks and debilitating phobias.He puts children's increasing vulnerability to anxiety, depression and isolation down to growing pressure: academic pressure, peer pressure, family changes and poverty and social deprivation. The school-refusers that he supports are, typically, in care homes or living with the latest in a long line of foster parents; those who have been abused, mistreated or see themselves as neglected; and refugee children fleeing atrocities.School-based, as distinct from home-based, problems also vary.
As Dr Goddard explains, school phobia may stem from a particular element of school: a teacher, the journey to and from school, or fear of bullying or violence. It may follow an undiagnosed learning difficulty, such as dyslexia. It may even be linked to agoraphobia, fear of crowds or open spaces.Ambitious children who become perfectionist are also vulnerable. And the problem may, of course, stem from both home and school.
"I went to visit one girl," said Senior, "who had been out of her previous primary school for six months following psychological bullying, being excluded from groups She came to us for one morning only but couldn't cope. When she heard my knock on the door, she ran into her bedroom and hid under the bed."Her mother explained that she had no friends and never went out She was trapped in her own world. She desperately wanted to see her father, who had left after frequent rows She felt rejected by him Gradually, she spoke to me. She felt totally let down by the system and had no trust in it or anybody She was also phobic about crowds, how they walk and talk She thought everyone looked so big and she felt so small. It took around three months of visiting her twice a week to build the relationship and to get her into school for one hour a day, not into lessons but to work on her own. She's now back in school full-time, but has relapses after breaks."When children refuse to go to school, it can consume the whole family.
