“School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance
Difficulties with school attendance have been linked to poorer academic attainment, as well as later unemployment and reduced emotional wellbeing. This is a particularly pertinent area of research following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also an area of interest for the UK government, wi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/76505/ |
| _version_ | 1848800910307753984 |
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| author | Wright, Sophie |
| author_facet | Wright, Sophie |
| author_sort | Wright, Sophie |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Difficulties with school attendance have been linked to poorer academic attainment, as well as later unemployment and reduced emotional wellbeing. This is a particularly pertinent area of research following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also an area of interest for the UK government, with the Department for Education (DfE, 2022) having recently published guidance on supporting school attendance. Research highlights the benefits of early identification and intervention for these needs, as well as the importance of gaining pupil voice. However, there has been limited research focussing on primary school aged children and young people (CYP)’s views, despite the literature suggesting that barriers to school attendance do begin in primary school.
Therefore, the aim of the present research was to explore the perceptions of primary school aged CYP who are beginning to experience barriers to school attendance. The two research questions focussed on the perceptions of young people on their barriers to school attendance and the factors they perceive to support their school attendance. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from a sample of six key stage 2 pupils who were at the early stages of experiencing barriers to school attendance. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis which generated three themes in relation to barriers: negative school experiences, school as a safe space, and psychological and physiological needs. Three themes regarding supportive factors were also identified, which were the importance of relationships, reasonable adjustments and inclusion of pupil voice in planning for support.
Support was found for previous literature and the findings can be understood in terms of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) bioecological model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) and the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Implications for schools and educational psychologists (EPs) include taking a holistic and interactionist approach to reducing barriers to school attendance. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:59:04Z |
| format | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| id | nottingham-76505 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:59:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-765052023-12-12T04:40:36Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/76505/ “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance Wright, Sophie Difficulties with school attendance have been linked to poorer academic attainment, as well as later unemployment and reduced emotional wellbeing. This is a particularly pertinent area of research following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also an area of interest for the UK government, with the Department for Education (DfE, 2022) having recently published guidance on supporting school attendance. Research highlights the benefits of early identification and intervention for these needs, as well as the importance of gaining pupil voice. However, there has been limited research focussing on primary school aged children and young people (CYP)’s views, despite the literature suggesting that barriers to school attendance do begin in primary school. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to explore the perceptions of primary school aged CYP who are beginning to experience barriers to school attendance. The two research questions focussed on the perceptions of young people on their barriers to school attendance and the factors they perceive to support their school attendance. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from a sample of six key stage 2 pupils who were at the early stages of experiencing barriers to school attendance. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis which generated three themes in relation to barriers: negative school experiences, school as a safe space, and psychological and physiological needs. Three themes regarding supportive factors were also identified, which were the importance of relationships, reasonable adjustments and inclusion of pupil voice in planning for support. Support was found for previous literature and the findings can be understood in terms of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) bioecological model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) and the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Implications for schools and educational psychologists (EPs) include taking a holistic and interactionist approach to reducing barriers to school attendance. 2023-12-12 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/76505/1/Sophie%20Wright%20Final%20Thesis.pdf Wright, Sophie (2023) “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance. DAppEdPsy thesis, University of Nottingham. educational psychology school attendance primary school key stage 2 truancy school phobia |
| spellingShingle | educational psychology school attendance primary school key stage 2 truancy school phobia Wright, Sophie “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title | “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title_full | “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title_fullStr | “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title_full_unstemmed | “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title_short | “School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| title_sort | “school is awful, horrible and like a prison.” a reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance |
| topic | educational psychology school attendance primary school key stage 2 truancy school phobia |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/76505/ |