14/07/2025
Learner’s Hierarchy of Needs by Sunshine Support.
🔥 If a child isn’t attending school, ask why… not why not.
Because here’s the truth...
No child chooses to struggle.
No child wants to feel unsafe, unwelcome, or unheard.
And no amount of attendance fines, threats, or behaviour policies will solve what’s actually going wrong.
✨ This is the Learner’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Inspired from research by Zullig et al, we have created this for you; we were guided by our decades of insight too!
It shows us one very important thing:
Connection can’t happen unless the foundations are safe.
No child can thrive without basic needs being met - physically, emotionally, relationally. That means:
Toilets they can access safely.
Classrooms they feel safe in.
Teachers who understand their needs.
A community that sees them, as they are.
If a child isn’t making it through the school gate on a Monday morning, it’s not because they’re “refusing” to go.
It’s because something deeper is not right. And until we meet those needs, true inclusion remains out of reach.
🌤 Whether you’re a parent feeling the heartbreak of daily battles, or a teacher watching a child slowly disappear - please know you are not alone. We see you. We hear you.
And that’s why School Avoidance Awareness Week exists - because the system is overdue a reckoning.
📚 Learn more about what children really need, and how we can help:
👉 www.sunshine-support.org/academy
Let’s change the climate. Let’s build schools where children want to be.
