ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1602057
This article is part of the Research TopicAddressing emotionally based school avoidance: causes, consequences, and interventionsView all 10 articles
Exploring the Implementation of Relational Practice in a Primary School to Support School Attendance
Provisionally accepted- The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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School attendance difficulties are increasingly recognised as complex challenges, rooted in emotional, relational, and systemic influences. This study explores how relational practice can be implemented in a primary school to support attendance, using the term School Attendance Barriers to avoid deficit-based language and emphasise systemic drivers. The study examined school staff perceptions of the key factors influencing the implementation of relational practice.A qualitative action research design was used, underpinned by critical realism and conducted over one academic year in a primary school in Northwest England.Seven staff members, including senior leaders, teachers, and teaching assistants, formed a collaborative research group. Data were gathered from four recorded meetings, transcribed and analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.Findings identified key facilitators, including strong leadership buy-in, a shared relational ethos, and psychological input to support reflective practice. The codeveloped implementation of Emotion Coaching was particularly valued for offering a feasible, relational way of being. Barriers included curriculum pressures, staffing inconsistencies, limited training, and tensions between relational approaches and wider educational policies.The study highlights the value of participatory approaches, such as action research, in embedding sustainable, school-owned relational practice. It challenges prescriptive models of social and emotional learning, calling instead for flexible, context-sensitive implementation tailored to staff experience and school systems.
Keywords: EBSA, implementation, relational practice, whole school approach, Action reseach, Whole school intervention, supporting school attendance, Emotion coaching
Received: 28 Mar 2025; Accepted: 05 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alaimo and Kelly. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
George Alaimo, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Catherine Kelly, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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