Therapy dogs and prize vouchers help to lure 'anxious avoiders' back into schools

Schools are turning to innovative techniques to entice children back into the classroom, as school leaders warn that high levels of absence will become "generational" unless urgently tackled.

- Richard Adams

Therapy dogs, prize vouchers, wellness sessions, taxi rides and shepherd's huts are being put to use by schools in England and Wales seeking to encourage "anxious avoiders" to regularly attend.

One of the most ambitious efforts is at Mary Immaculate high school on the outskirts of Cardiff, which this summer opened a £1.7m facility, the Churchill wellness centre, with funding from Cardiff council.

"It's got lamps and rugs, it's a lovely open space. It doesn't look like a school," said Nadia Yassien, who runs the Bridge, the school's pastoral support programme within the centre, which works with 200 of the school's 900 pupils.

With no alternative provision places available nearby, the centre has become a crucial venue to help children Yassien calls "anxious avoiders" come for lessons.

"We know it is working. Pupils who had really low attendance are coming in regularly and on time and happy - and that's key, because they are not going to learn if they hate the place."

Attendance fell steeply after Covid, but Yassien said Mary Immaculate's rates were now above the national average for schools in Wales.

Some of the improvement is thanks to Teddy, the labradoodle that has become a school celebrity when accompanying a therapist on her visits to the centre.