If your child cannot attend school because of anxiety, distress, or overwhelming fear  and you are watching them struggle while schools, professionals, and local authorities seem to be moving too slowly or not at all this bundle was written for you.

EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance) is not defiance.

It is not bad parenting.

It is a child in genuine distress, and it deserves a serious, informed, legally grounded response.

This bundle gives you exactly that.

What You Get

EBSA: The Complete Parent Guide

A comprehensive, research-backed guide covering everything from understanding why EBSA happens and how it presents, to your child's legal rights, the Section 19 duty, EHC Needs Assessments, and what good support actually looks like.

Written by a SEND advocate with direct experience of supporting families through the system in England. Grounded in the Children and Families Act 2014, Education Act 1996, Equality Act 2010, and SEND Code of Practice 2015.

EBSA: The Complete Toolkit

Five practical tools and six ready-to-use templates that put the guide into action, from a weekly pattern tracker and EHCP readiness checklist to a Section 19 request letter, EHCNA supporting letter, and GP referral request letter.

Everything is written, structured, and ready for you to complete and send.

What Is Inside the Guide

• What EBSA is, what it is not, and why the language used by professionals matters

• How EBSA presents across different learner profiles including autism, ADHD, PDA, and trauma

• The evidence base, what peer-reviewed research tells us about causes, maintaining factors, and what works

• How to work with GPs, CAMHS, Educational Psychologists, and Occupational Therapists

• Your child's legal rights under the Education Act 1996, Children and Families Act 2014, and Equality Act 2010

• How to invoke the Section 19 duty and what to do when the local authority fails to act

• When EBSA signals unmet SEND needs and how to evidence this

• How to request an EHC Needs Assessment and what each section of an EHCP must address

• What genuine, research-informed reintegration looks like and the critical question of whether the environment your child is returning to can actually meet their needs

• Three detailed case studies showing EBSA across different presentations and outcomes

• How to look after yourself while advocating for your child 

What Is Inside the Toolkit

• Tool 1: Weekly EBSA Pattern Tracker, daily severity log, trigger recording, and weekly summary

• Tool 2: Evidence Builder, attendance record, professional involvement log, school support record, and impact statement

• Tool 3: EHCP Readiness Checklist; 22 indicators mapped to the Section 36 legal threshold

• Tool 4: My Child's Voice, accessible template meeting the EHCNA legal requirement to seek the child's views

• Tool 5: Professional Meeting Prep Sheet, question bank, commitments log, and seven-point follow-up checklist

• Template 1: EBSA Symptom and Impact Diary

• Template 2: School Communication Log

• Template 3: Section 19 Request Letter

• Template 4: EHCNA Supporting Letter

• Template 5: Reintegration Plan Checklist

• Template 6: GP Referral Request Letter

This Is For You If

• Your child is missing significant school time because of anxiety or emotional distress

• You have been told to push harder, be firmer, or wait and see and it is not working

• You are trying to navigate schools, the local authority, CAMHS, and GPs simultaneously without knowing what any of them are legally required to do

• You have been threatened with a Fixed Penalty Notice or attendance proceedings

• You suspect your child's EBSA is linked to unmet SEND needs that have not been properly assessed

• You are preparing for an EHCNA request, an EHCP review, or a SEND Tribunal appeal and need to understand the process and build your evidence

Written By a SEND Advocate

This bundle was written by an experienced and practising SEND advocate supporting families across England.

The content is grounded in current legislation, statutory guidance, and peer-reviewed research, not opinion, not general wellbeing advice, and not content that stops short of the difficult legal and systemic realities families face.

Every letter template cites the correct legal basis. Every checklist maps to the statutory threshold.

Every section of the guide tells you not just what to do, but why and what to do when the system does not respond as it should.

What This Is Not

This is not a medical guide and it does not constitute legal advice. Every child's situation is different, and where needs are complex or formal legal proceedings are involved, specialist legal advice should be sought. Your local SENDIASS service provides free, impartial advice and is always a good first call or reach out to SENDHelp for case management options 

hello@sendhelp-uk.com

SENDHelp! exists to make sure that the parents who cannot access full advocacy support still have access to the knowledge, the law, and the language they need to advocate for their child.

www.sendhelp-uk.com