Schools today must think differently about how they support pupils with emotionally based school avoidance. The answer often isn’t just about academic catch-up, it’s about creating the right kind of space for pupils to feel safe, seen, and supported. More than ever, educational settings are recognising the power of physical environment in helping pupils regulate, rebuild trust, and slowly reconnect with school life. At Cabins for Schools, we’re proud to work with schools across the UK to design spaces that meet those needs head-on. Read on to find out everything you need to know...
More and more schools and other educational settings across the UK are grappling with a continued rise in young people experiencing emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). Often, there can be a number of reasons why a pupil begins to avoid school or becomes reluctant to attend. This may include emotional factors such as anxiety and depression, family-related factors such as being a young carer, trauma and adverse childhood experiences, or school-based factors such as bullying. In many cases, school becomes associated with overwhelming stress for the pupil, so by avoiding school, they may be trying to avoid quite uncomfortable feelings or situations.
When a pupil is experiencing emotionally based school avoidance, simply expecting them to return to a busy classroom can be unrealistic and actually unhelpful to their confidence, wellbeing and progress towards reintegration. They need space both physically and emotionally to feel safe, supported and ready to re-engage. What pupils experiencing EBSA often need is a gentle, supported route back in. This requires an inclusive, pupil-centred approach, starting from providing the right environment.
Why environment matters for EBSA
When children and young people are emotionally overwhelmed, space matters. Think of providing this safe space as building a bridge, a place for children with EBSA to feel heard, supported, calm, and slowly begin to engage with support again. A calm, safe and low-stimulation environment within school grounds gives pupils the opportunity to regulate their emotions, build trust with a key adult, and share their experiences or explore the challenges they're facing.
This calm environment will be a great place to use nurture tools like wellbeing cards or scaling techniques, which can help pupils to express how they're feeling in a way that feels manageable and non-threatening. Within this space, school staff can begin to support pupils with emotional regulation, helping each child to understand their anxiety or stress and develop useful coping strategies such as deep breathing or relaxation exercises. Support can also involve gradual exposure, setting small and achievable goals that slowly reintroduce pupils experiencing EBSA to situations they find difficult. (Of course, with plenty of reassurance and encouragement along the way!)
Creating this kind of calm, supportive and safe environment also creates opportunities for multi-agency working, where school staff, social workers or counsellors can provide care with a unified approach. The overall goal is to give children and young people the chance to begin to reconnect and reintegrate into school life and the school community in a way which feels manageable and safe for them.
With an outdoor classroom or log cabin, your school can give young people somewhere to:
Supporting EBSA through purpose-built spaces
At Cabins for Schools, we work with educational settings across the UK to create calm, nurturing spaces that support attendance, emotional regulation, and wellbeing. We can work with your school to design, manufacture and install a space which effectively supports pupils with EBSA, whether that's designing an outdoor classroom for small group support, a timber log cabin for 1-1 interventions, or permanent building for wider scale provision, such as an alternative provision unit. We will create a space that supports your specific requirements, providing an environment which fully supports your pupils' needs.
Here are just a few ways that schools we've worked with are supporting students with EBSA:
Outdoor Classrooms
We worked with Billesley Primary School in Birmingham to design, manufacture and install a bespoke outdoor classroom to provide an additional calming and accessible environment for their pupils. When speaking to Aisha McDaniels, Billesley's assistant principal for inclusion, she told us:
'Our eco classroom is specially designed to be a nice, small, comforting room with a nurturing feel and so we use it as an opportunity for our social workers to have their own set time and designated space with the children. We also use it as a nurture space where students have a familiar place within the school to come to and regulate their emotions or to have positive, nurturing conversations with their social workers. We can bring groups of 10-15 children into a safe space where they can have all of the resources they need. We also bring smaller groups into our eco classroom to cater to the children identified as benefitting from learning in smaller groups sizes.'
Log Cabins
George Spencer Academy in Nottingham chose one of our 10m² log cabins to create 'The Cloud', their dedicated wellbeing hub to support pupils. We spoke to Headteacher, Andrew Fields, about why they wanted to create The Cloud. He tells us:
'School is very stressful, intimidating, and potentially a frightening place for a young child when they first start. For some of them, it can be a place which creates an awful lot of anxiety. Likewise, there is a growing number of children who have been diagnosed with certain specific learning needs. Sometimes if you think about it from the point of view of a child sitting in a classroom, all they ever see are the backs of the heads of the children sitting in front of them, and one person static at the front of the room giving them instructions, in an environment where there is a slight competitive edge to keep up and cope. We were looking for additional space, and to have a space like this where an individual or a few young people can come in and have a totally different environment to the average classroom in their working day is fantastic.'
We also asked how they're using the space to support their pupils:
'We know that certain individual children rely on this space as their safety net, their go-to environment when things are getting on top of them. Maybe they haven’t got that at home, maybe they share a bedroom, maybe they live in a frantic environment in their house where they just don’t get any down time or a safe space to go to. The pupils can just come in here and switch off from the pressure of being in a competitive school where everybody’s expecting you to perform in a certain way. We often hold group interventions in the cabin, where students may have difficulty in initiating a conversation with others. With this setup, it enables them to practice their verbal and nonverbal communication skills, reading facial expressions, gestures, and using eye contact. We also hold social groups and breakfast clubs in there.'
By investing in a dedicated EBSA support space, you're not just investing in a new building, you're promoting an inclusive environment and pupil-centred approach at your school. By introducing a dedicated outdoor classroom or log cabin, you can create a place to support your pupils' wellbeing for years to come.
Whether you're supporting children or young people returning from periods of non-attendance, pupils on reduced timetables, those struggling with transitions or facing the risk of exclusion, or simply for students who need a quiet, emotionally safe space, having the right environment to facilitate this support will make the world of difference!
Thinking about EBSA support at your school?
If you're seeking ways to support children and young people experiencing emotionally based school avoidance, we'd love to help. We've seen first-hand the impact our builds can have on confidence, trust-building, and emotional development. Schools consistently tell us that having a dedicated, thoughtfully designed space helps pupils to feel that their needs are recognised and respected.
Browse our pricing guide for example project prices, or book in a quick chat with a member of our team to discuss your site's requirements. Experts in the education building industry, we'll help your school, nursery or higher education facility to create a calming environment which makes a big difference for your students and staff.