Anxious children as young as 12 to be treated at rehab clinic to get them back in school

Schoolchildren as young as 12 who are struggling with anxiety will be treated at a rehab clinic to get them back in the classroom - but it could set you back £3,375.

It's normal for children to feel worried or anxious from time to time – such as when they're starting school or nursery, or moving to a new area. But for some children and young people, anxiety affects their behaviour and thoughts every day, interfering with their school, home and social life. This is when you may need professional help to tackle it.

Now, in the first of its kind, there is a programme for children avoiding school because of their anxiety being offered at one of the UK's best-known rehab clinics in south-west London.

The Priory, which operates some 270 sites across the UK has a reputation for treating celebrities, particularly for drug and alcohol addiction is offering the new five-week course. The Priory - the flagship hospital of the Priory Group, has treated celebrity patients including Eric Clapton, Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.

The new course for anxious children includes "exposure therapy" at the hospital's in-house school, gradually confronting their fears and triggers to rebuild their confidence and develop coping strategies. The course is only available for 12 to 18-year-olds and will set you back a staggering £3,375. It is being run privately, but the Priory will accept referrals from the NHS , The Sunday Telegraph reports.

Dr Maria Zioga, a chartered principal clinical psychologist at The Priory, who helped to create the programme, said: "Many parents struggle when their child or young person develops anxious behaviour about going to school, despite it being a pupil's natural environment to thrive academically and socio-emotionally.

"It's important to remember that children and young people who experience emotionally based school avoidance aren't just being 'difficult', 'lazy' or lacking care about their education. In many cases, they want to attend school, they want to belong to a shared community, they want to learn and make friends, but they feel overwhelmed by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, they are preoccupied by worrying thoughts, or other underlying factors."

The decision to launch the programme comes as schools in England are facing a truancy crisis. Almost one in five (19.05 per cent) children are now persistently absent in England - missing at least a tenth of all classes - compared to just 10.9 per cent in 2018-19 before the pandemic, according to data from the Department for Education.

One of the driving forces behind the trend is thought to be emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), a term used to describe young people who have difficulty attending school because of emotional distress and anxiety, rather than choosing not to go.

More information about anxiety disorders in children can be found on the NHS website.