Ireland

In Ireland there are a number of statutory and voluntary agencies interested in school attendance. In recent years, a number of individual Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSCs) have developed bespoke resource packs on the theme of school avoidance/school refusal at county level.

CYPSC are county-level committees that bring together the main statutory, community and voluntary providers of services to children and young people.  They provide a forum for joint planning and interagency co-ordination of activity to ensure that children, young people and their families receive improved and accessible services.

Academics working in this area in include, Dr Catriona O’Toole, Maynooth University and Dr Roisin Devenney, South East Technological University.

Resource packs:

• Clare School Avoidance Toolkit
• Suspensions and exclusions in Primary School – Challenges and Solutions
• Promoting Positive School Attendance in Mayo
• Roscommon School Refusal Resource Pack
• Wicklow School Refusal Pack
• School Refusal The Wicklow Pathway Webinar
• Fingal School Avoidance Toolkit
• National Educational Psychological Service: Guidance on School Refusal Behaviour

Research:

• Devenney, R. & O'Toole, C. (2021)‘What Kind of Education System are We Offering’: The Views of Education Professionals on School Refusal International Journal of Educational Psychology, 10(1), 27-47 https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2021.7304
• O’Toole, C. & Devenney, D. (2020). ‘School refusal’ What is the problem represented to be? A critical analysis using Bacchi’s questioning approach (taylorfrancis.com)
• Roisin Devenney’s PhD thesis ‘Exploring Perspectives of School Refusal in Second-Level Education in Ireland’ School Refusal (maynoothuniversity.ie)