During the formative years of a child’s life, dealing with a lot of new situations and people, and adapting to changes can be overwhelming. If your child is showing signs of mental health issues that are affecting school performance or attendance, or has even suffered a blow to their confidence or learning ability, Lionheart Education is here to create a tailored academic plan to get them back on track.
We’ve been providing youth mental health consultancy and school refusal help to families in London and around the UK since 1989, and we’ve worked with children experiencing a wide range of issues including anxiety, low mood, trauma, stress from social pressures, and eating disorders.
We aim to relieve the pressure from situations where a child’s mental health has had a negative effect on their schooling, and rather than just providing tutoring or endless meetings, we aim to get to the heart of the issues and design a plan that works for them and for your family.
School refusal always has a reason behind it, and when the thought of going to school changes how a child learns, sleeps, eats, perceives themselves, and responds to the adults in their life, it’s time to understand the issues and create a better path forwards.
We provide school refusal help for children of all ages, and we know that a school avoidance child or teenager with school anxiety might be bright but is having trouble with the format of traditional schooling where they can shine. Whether it’s school refusal in Year 7 as they step up to secondary school, or refusing sixth form, our professional team can step in, bring calm to the situation, and discern the best next steps.
Emotionally based school avoidance, also known as EBSA, is when a child has difficulty attending school, making friends, or completing set work as it causes emotional distress. It may appear in the form of morning refusals that escalate, panic attacks at the thought of going to school, or generalised anxiety.
Every child experiences EBSA differently. For some, it’s the sensory demands of being in a large classroom; for others, it’s the separation from home life, and in many cases are caused by bullying that isn’t being handled in the correct way by the school. If you notice that your child often cries at the thought of going to school or has physical symptoms such as a stomach ache or school anxiety, it’s best to get a handle on the situation sooner rather than later.
Lionheart Education provides full EBSA support in the UK, whether it’s in-person in London, online or over the phone, and we can give you the best advice on what to do when your child refuses school. Forcing them to return before they are ready can exacerbate the situation, but allowing them to remain off school can cause their education to suffer and bring legal issues to your door. Instead, reach out for a child mental health consultation with the Lionheart team and take control of the situation.
It’s important to clarify that while Lionheart Education provides full educational support for school avoidance caused by mental health issues, we are unable to provide a diagnosis, clinical therapy, or medication. These types of diagnoses and treatment plans can only come from a qualified clinician such as a GP or psychologist, but we are always willing and able to work alongside other professionals to ensure your child receives the best quality of personal and educational support.
Lionheart Education can coordinate with professionals to make sure that your child’s education is structured in such a way that gives them the maximum benefits and doesn’t place any undue stress on them.
Our team can provide private support after CAMHS, and create reports of what your child has been learning as they navigate the transition between home and school and tuition, or even if they are having alternative provision.
Where mental health issues and special educational needs overlap, Lionheart has education crisis management and SEND consultancy that can help with EHCP guidance to maintain a high level of education no matter the issues you’re facing as a family.
We can help in a variety of situations affecting learning
For over 35 years, Lionheart Education has been supporting children and young people who are having difficulty learning, attending school, or progressing through their education due to mental health issues.
Many children are affected by more than one of these challenges at once, and we work alongside parents and professionals to keep their education on track — from homeschooling an anxious student to rebuild confidence, to supporting a family through school refusal linked to bullying, or helping a sixth former manage depression or GCSE burnout. Our team of youth mental health consultants and tutors help both parents and children make the best decisions for their education.
In order to offer the right service for your family and children, we can provide an educational assessment which involves looking at school reports and speaking with your child to isolate the issues causing, or caused by, their mental health. We can also point you in the right direction of clinicians able to complete a mental health assessment, and use that to create tailored education plans bespoke to your family.
For some children, mainstream and even special needs schools are not able to be tolerated, so we create a school refusal recovery timeline that involves low-pressure learning in a calm, safe environment. If you are schooling with a view to reintegration, then we can build your child’s confidence step by step until they are comfortable with greater levels of social integration, never pushing them more than they are able to handle.
We are able to align our support with professionals in the family’s life to ensure education stays on track and is delivered in a way that’s appropriate for their mental health status. With the parent’s consent, our team is able to coordinate with the school teachers and head, as well as SENCOs, therapists, and GPs to help build a complete picture for the parents and deliver the correct level of academic support.
Many types of mental health issues in children do not need professional intervention, but when they do, Lionheart Education is here to give clear advice on all aspects on the next steps forward, whether it’s SEND advice or guidance on EHCPs. Where mental health issues like depression and anxiety have affected learning or school attendance, we can assist with complete education planning as well as gathering the right documentation for assessments.
Children not attending school due to avoidance or expulsion are offered alternative provision by the local authorities, and we can help with additional tuition sessions and educational assessments to make sure your child stays on track. We offer specialist private tuition in-person at your home, online, or at our Lionheart School London, as well as homeschooling programmes tailored to the unique needs of your child.
When home education feels too isolated but attending school is fraught with difficulties, a neutral setting where your child can learn, build their confidence, and adapt to routine is often a welcome change. Lionheart Education’s sister company, Lion’s Campus, is located in central Marylebone and offers leading private mental health programmes for teens and young adults aged 14-25.
Our team of specialist educators offer residential and day programmes for children with behavioural challenges, a range of mental health disorders, eating disorders, and addictions. Lion’s Campus is a therapeutic school setting that offers a safe place while children and young adults are undergoing assessment, need short-term academic stabilisation, or need to be gently reintegrated into mainstream or special needs schools. Call our team today for an initial consultation and let’s get your child’s education back on track.
Discover
Mental Health Support with Lionheart
“It is really difficult in mainstream school if you are struggling, so to have that one-to-one tuition where tutors understood me and wanted the best for me was transformative.”
Isa C. Former Lionheart Student
With so many resources available at our disposal, Lionheart Education can help to create a complete academic plan for children refusing school due to being unwell or facing mental health difficulties. This could be a combination of online and home-based tuition, or a wider plan for reintegration. We cannot diagnose or treat mental health conditions in children, but we can tailor education plans to give them the best possible pathway.
Emotionally based school avoidance, also known as EBSA, is when children cannot or will not attend school regularly due to issues with anxiety, distress, or feeling generally overwhelmed emotionally by school. It is different from truancy or school refusal, as some children are unable to handle the busy school environment and requirements placed on them. We provide a joint response across home life, school life, and clinical care if required.
The first step should be to contact the pastoral team at the school, but if your child is showing signs of persistent low mood or distress, an appointment with a GP is advisable. GPs can make referrals to the appropriate mental health teams within the NHS. Lionheart Education’s team is here for parents when dealing with school refusal, and we can help you coordinate your child’s education when they are out of school temporarily or permanently.
Yes, with the consent of the parents, we are able to liaise with a wide range of professionals to create a coordinated, efficient response regarding a child’s education. Communication between multiple professionals such as therapists, the school, SENCOs, and safeguarding teams can become overwhelming for parents, so our role as a youth mental health consultant can be to keep everything together and create practical plans for education.
No, although we do provide mental health consultancy for children experiencing difficulties, our service is limited to the educational aspect. Diagnoses can only be made by a qualified clinician, but we can take the information and translate it into actionable learning plans that are in line with your child. We can help at any stage of the process, whether it’s the first day of school refusal or an ongoing issue over weeks and months.
Lion’s Campus is a Lionheart Education sister company that offers a dedicated environment in London for teens and young adults dealing with mental health issues. We support youth with whatever problems they are experiencing with schooling, providing a base for assessment and reintegration into schooling. The services we offer are considered on a case-by-case basis after an initial consultation with the family and professionals.
Our mental health consultancy provides calm, experienced guidance when a child’s wellbeing is affecting learning — helping families stabilise the present and plan their next steps.
