Many parent carers have shared their experiences of children feeling overwhelmed, anxious or distressed about going to school, often feeling that their concerns weren’t being heard or understood.
At SGPC, we’ve been listening and working hard to make sure those experiences lead to positive change. And we’re really pleased to share the latest result of that work!
Working alongside South Gloucestershire’s Educational Psychology team, we’ve helped develop ‘Can’t, not won’t’, a series of seven videos created especially for parent carers of children and young people experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).
All seven videos in the series are now available on our website. There’s no need to watch in order, each video covers a different topic so you can dip in as you need to .
Topics in the series:
Part 1: Understanding the Psychology behind EBSA and the approaches taken to meet EBSA needs
Part 2: A joined up approach between schools and parents/carers
Part 3: Health and Wellbeing (including sleep)
Part 4: Parent Wellbeing: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Part 5: Emotion Coaching
Part 6: Recovery to Rediscovery
Part 7: EBSA and Neurodiversity
Your voices have helped make this happen
NEW…
EBSA Chat and Support sessions
We know how important it can be to talk with others who understand what you’re going through. So we’re also pleased to introduce our new support sessions, specifically for those families experiencing EBSA.
These will be:
Small-group session in the comfort of our Community Base
A non-judgmental space share experiences, ask questions and explore ways to support your child.
A chance to explore in more detail each of the topics in the video series
Quiet activities and Wifi will be available if you need to bring children with you.
More than anything, we hope these event give you a chance to feel supported, valued and understood.
A gentle advisory: There will not be a member of the Educational Psychology team present at these events.
Thursday 26th November 10:00am - 12:00pm
Recovery to Rediscovery
Our Community Base. The Kingswood Centre, New Cheltenham Road, Kingswood BS15 4FS (map)
What we’ll cover
A summary of the Recovery to Rediscovery model
Removing the pressure and building trusted relationships.
Compassionate, curiosity‑led ways to understand and support your child and strategies to try
Who is this for?
Parents and carers of children and young people who are experiencing EBSA. In particular, the Recovery to Rediscovery model is aimed at those children with long term EBSA and provides a suggested journey of what to do when school has become extremely difficult.
We understand that you may have children at home who you need to bring, please book a child ticket for them alongside your own. We will set up some quiet activities near you and we also have Wi-Fi but headphones will be necessary if using devices. Children and young people will remain your responsibility throughout the session.
Save the Date…
Save the date for our upcoming EBSA chat and support sessions.
Thursday 21st January - Health and Wellbeing including sleep
Thursday 18th March - EBSA and Neurodiversity
November 2026