‘Less daunting’: inside the new education unit in north London supporting school refusers

‘These children are not in a good place,’ said Alex Yates, the headteacher at the Royal Free hospital children’s school. ‘We’ve got to provide them with innovative ways to get out of that.’ Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

When schools in England fully reopened after the Covid lockdown in 2020, most children were happy to return. But Rex, like many other children, decided he wouldn’t go back.

“He didn’t particularly enjoy school, pre-Covid, but just got up and went, because that’s just what you did,” says his mother, Tracey. Rex’s mental health deteriorated; he was struggling with chronic depression and anxiety, and he became what is known as an emotionally based school avoider.