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Exploring School Absence in Northern Ireland: Voices of Young People

21 July 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

Monday 28 July 2025

Chronic school absence has been a growing concern across Northern Ireland, with rising numbers of young people disengaging from education. But too often, conversations about this issue overlook the voices of those most affected — the young people themselves.

This project set out to change that.

Through a series of honest, powerful video interviews, we asked a small group of young people to share their experiences, challenges, and hopes around school attendance. The stories that emerged are complex, deeply personal, and help us understand how the education system is, or isn’t, working for many children and young people.

The young people involved have been failed by the education system in various respects, but are now speaking out as child rights defenders to help secure changes for future generations.

Watch the Interviews

Why This Project Matters

The young people we spoke to have lived through school systems which they feel have not had the capability to support them, whether due to bullying, mental health struggles, unmet health and social care needs, ill equipped physical environments, rigid expectations, or a lack of genuine connection with the adults and peers around them. Yet their insights also point the way towards more compassionate, responsive, and inclusive solutions.

These interviews highlight key themes, including:

  • The impact of mental health on attendance and engagement.
  • The importance of positive teacher student relationships.
  • Experiences of bullying and feeling unsafe in school.
  • Barriers related to special educational needs and disability.
  • A desire for more flexible, relevant, and student centred education.
  • The need for a sense of belonging and acceptance within the school community.

One thing that was clear throughout the entire project, was that young people want to be heard and taken seriously. A failure to do that will result in a failure to tackle the problem.

What You’ll Find

Below, you can watch and listen to the young people in their own words. Young people who have taken a brave decision to speak out and become child rights defenders.

Each video offers a unique perspective, some heart breaking, others hopeful, but all are united by a call for change rooted in lived experience.

Meet the Young People

  • Alex: Once enthusiastic about school, Alex’s experience of bullying and feeling unheard by staff led to significant disengagement and school avoidance. He reflects on feeling unsupported and unmotivated.
  • Chris: Speaks candidly about the impact of school on his deteriorating mental health, and the stress of feeling unseen and misunderstood, especially when trying to mask neurodivergent traits.
  • Ian: Shares the barriers he faced due to the lack of accessibility in his school, highlighting how systemic inaction limited his educational opportunities.
  • Owen: Reflects on the trauma of being dismissed and punished in primary school and how a lack of empathy led to early disengagement. A compassionate teacher made a lasting positive difference, even if, in the end, it was too late to prevent him from leaving school.
  • Kanye and Lukas: Talk about the role of friendship, inconsistency in learning experiences and feeling misunderstood, showing how school environment and relationships shape attendance and achievement.

A Call to Listen and Act

These stories are not isolated. They reflect broader patterns that need urgent attention. By truly listening to young people we can begin to design systems that work with them, not against them.

Children’s Rights and Chronic School Absence: A Rights Based Approach

Chronic school absence isn’t just an educational issue — it’s a children’s human rights issue.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), every child has the right to an effective education (Articles 28 and 29). More than that, they have the right to be listened to (Article 12), to mental health support (Article 24), and to access all of their rights without discrimination (Article 2).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) also sets out clear obligations on states to ensure disabled children enjoy their rights in school on an equal basis with others. Every disabled child has the right to access education without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity (Article 24); and they must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms, with their views given due weight (Article 7). Schools, transport, communication, and learning materials must be physically and practically accessible to all pupils (Article 9); and disabled children must not be left behind due to systemic neglect, inaccessible environments, or untrained staff (article 5).

The young people we interviewed told us clearly: they often didn’t feel respected or heard in school environments. Their mental health needs were not effectively supported. Their additional needs were not being met and reasonable adjustments were absent or hard fought for. Their differences were misunderstood by those around them and their voices were missing from decisions about their own education.

Watch the Interviews

Thanks

We are grateful to the LFT Charitable Trust who, in recognising the importance of this participative research project, provided a grant to enable its completion.

We would also like to thank all the young people who took part in the project as well as Strive NI, Larne YMCA and Barnardos for their help throughout the project.

Additional Resources

Rights of the Child UK Post-Conference Report Launched

7 July 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

On 7 July 2025, Together joined colleagues from the Rights of the Child UK (ROCK) Steering Group to launch the Post-Conference Report from the ROCK Annual Conference 2024 – a day that brought together over 90 children’s rights advocates, decision-makers and academics from across the UK, Jersey and Iceland.

Held in Edinburgh on 17 September 2024, the conference was hosted by Together in partnership with the ROCK Steering Group, with generous funding from Elevate Great (formerly Cattanach).

Watch CLC’s Contribution

The conference offered a vital opportunity to reflect on progress – and gaps – in how children’s rights are being taken forward in law, policy and practice across the UK. Speakers shared updates from each jurisdiction, drew on international experience, and explored how best to respond to the UN Committee’s 2023 Concluding Observations.

Throughout the day, there was a strong call for action: to push for full incorporation of the UNCRC across all UK jurisdictions, strengthen systems for monitoring and accountability, and ensure that babies, children and young people are meaningfully involved in shaping decisions that affect them.

The Post-Conference Report captures these priorities and outlines practical next steps. These include a commitment from ROCK to develop a coordinated UK-wide strategy for incorporation, alongside stronger cross-sector collaboration and improved tools to support implementation.

ROCK is a coalition of voluntary organisations and individuals working together to embed children’s human rights into law, policy and practice.

ROCK’s work is guided by its Steering Group, which comprises representatives from leading child rights alliances across the UK, including: Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights); Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE); Children in Wales; Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group; Children’s Law Centre; and UNICEF UK.

Find the Report

Children’s Law Centre Appoints John O’Doherty as New CEO

28 May 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

28 May 2025

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) is pleased to announce the appointment of John O’Doherty as its new Chief Executive Officer. John will take up the role in August 2025. The appointment follows the news that Paddy Kelly, the Centre’s founding Director of over 27 years, will step down this summer.

John O’Doherty, who comes with years of extensive experience in leading an NGO and working as a leading human rights defender, will lead CLC in the next phase of its work and development.

Commenting on the announcement, outgoing Director, Paddy Kelly, said: “It has been a huge privilege to lead the Children’s Law Centre for over 27 years. In that time, we have secured major protections in children’s rights and changed the lives of tens of thousands of children and young people directly through advice, legal representation and advocacy.

“I am delighted to be handing over the reins of CLC to John. I have no doubt that he will successfully lead the organisation in the next stage of its work to vindicate the rights of children. He brings years of experience of working in the voluntary sector, including advocating for the realisation of rights. He will bring drive and energy to the work of advancing children’s rights and I’m confident he will make a significant impact in the growth and development of the organisation.”

John O’Doherty will be joining the Children’s Law Centre having worked for the past two years as the Director of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the Community Foundation Northern Ireland. Previous to that, he worked for 14 years as Director of The Rainbow Project. His appointment comes after a competitive open recruitment exercise, undertaken by the Centre’s Board of Trustees, supported by CO3’s Engage Executive Talent.

The Board and staff at CLC would like to congratulate John on his appointment and look forward to working with him to secure and vindicate the rights of all children and young people in Northern Ireland.

CLC Gives Evidence on Restrictive Practices in Education Settings

22 May 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

22 May 2025

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) presented evidence to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee, calling for urgent legislative reform to end the harmful use of restrictive practices – including restraint and seclusion – in education settings.

Watch the Full Committee Session

The evidence session, supported by a detailed written briefing, highlights how current practices in some education settings are breaching children’s human rights and disproportionately harming disabled children, particularly those with autism, intellectual disability and communication difficulties.

The evidence, presented by Rachel Hogan, SEND Specialist Legal Adviser at CLC, strongly asserted that no child should be restrained in an education setting without strict legal safeguards and that no child should be subjected to seclusion in an education setting.

Yet, in Northern Ireland, outdated legislation remains in force and the statutory guidance which had been promised for the protection of children from harm has not been finalised. This creates a dangerous vacuum and places the most vulnerable pupils at serious risk of avoidable harm as well as leaving staff who support them without essential knowledge and skills to enable child rights compliant practice.

Read the Written Briefing

The CLC written briefing outlines a number of key concerns:

  • Article 4 of the Education (NI) Order 1998, which empowers staff to use “reasonable force” on children in a range of circumstances, including for the maintenance of order and discipline, is outdated and incompatible with equality and human rights standards.
  • There is a lack of clarity around the banning of seclusion in all education settings.
  • There is no mandatory training for school staff on how to minimise and eliminate restrictive practices.
  • NI remains behind other jurisdictions, despite repeated calls for action from parents, professionals and international rights bodies such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities.

The Children’s Law Centre is urging the Department of Education to:

  • Immediately repeal Article 4 of the 1998 Order and introduce children’s human rights-based legislation and guidance.
  • Ban seclusion outright in all education settings.
  • Ensure mandatory, standardised training for all school staff.
  • Implement clear recording, monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
  • Work with the Department of Health to ensure joined-up, cross-departmental policy and guidance.

Every child has the right to feel safe, supported and respected in education regardless of their disabilities or other protected equality characteristics. Legislative reform is long overdue. Without it, children’s rights will continue to be violated and staff left unsupported.

Read the BBC NI News Coverage

Children’s Law Centre Annual Lecture Underscores Importance of ECHR in Protecting Children’s Rights

6 May 2025
Sam Nelson
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Categories: News

06 May 2025

The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) Annual Lecture 2025 was held in the Old Bar Library at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, with the keynote address being delivered by former President and Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Síofra O’Leary. The lecture explored the role of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in protecting the rights and voices of children.

Watch the Lecture

In her address, titled Children’s Voices and the Law: Reflections on the Role and Contribution of the ECHR, Judge O’Leary outlined how Strasbourg case law has evolved to better reflect the needs, rights and participation of children, despite the Convention’s original adult-focused framing.

Drawing on landmark judgments, Judge O’Leary examined key issues such as surrogacy, childcare and adoption, domestic violence, legal representation, and more recent climate change cases. She emphasised that children must be treated as rights holders, not bystanders, and underscored the responsibility of states to ensure child-friendly justice systems.

Judge O’Leary also reflected on the continued important role of the ECHR, particularly in the context of peace and prosperity, as well as the positive role of the UK judiciary in developing convention rights and continuing domestic case law relating to the Human Rights Act 1998.

Download the Lecture Notes

Speaking after the event, Children’s Law Centre Director Paddy Kelly said: “Twenty five years on from the Human Rights Act coming into force it is important to not only reflect on how much has changed and how children’s rights are better protected in law, policy and practice and the important role the European Court of Human Rights has played in securing those rights. But also, to reflect on what remains outstanding and how, in challenging times, we can best secure what has been achieved and ensure the onward progress of protecting the rights of our most vulnerable citizens.

“It was a privilege to have Judge O’Leary outline so eloquently the continued important role that the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights plays in protecting the rights of children and young people.”