Truancy and Non-attendance

In reality, however, the causes of truancy and non-attendance are diverse and multifaceted. There are as many causes of non-attendance as there are non-attenders. Each child has her own unique story, and whilst there may often be certain identifiable factors in common, each non-attending child demands and deserves an individual response, tailored to meet her individual needs. This applies equally to the 14-year-old who fails to attend school because a parent is terminally ill, the overweight 11 -year-old who fails to attend because he is embarrassed about changing for PE in front of peers, the 15-year-old who is 'bored' by lessons, and to the seven-year-old who is teased in the playground because she does not wear the latest designer-label clothes