I tried my best to send my daughter to school.

Hannah is one of thousands of children in Scotland who regularly miss school. Some disappear for days, some for years.

Twelve-year-old Hina missed most of her primary school education.

From her first day she barely spoke and was very agitated, so the school would call her mother every day to pick her up.

When she got to Primary Four, she refused to go altogether.

She would take off her uniform, cry and scream.

Psychologists say the reason for the increase in the number of children absent from school is not because schools are closed, but because many people are too anxious to walk through the school gates.

And since the number of covids is increasing.

The latest Scottish Government figures, to be published on Tuesday, are expected to continue this trend.

Hannah’s mother Ashley says her daughter, who is autistic, struggled with the noise and busyness of the school environment.

“Obviously she didn’t feel safe at school,” says Hannah.

“She wasn’t feeling well. I did everything I could to get her to school.”

Then about two years ago he started working with a project from the charity Quarriers called Reach, where a trained member of staff visits his home in Glasgow to help build his confidence.

“For the first six weeks she wouldn’t even talk to him,” Ashley says.

The support worker started going to primary school with Hannah for an hour a day and sitting in a quiet room with her to do crafts and play games.

Last summer, before Hanna started at secondary, she and her worker spent days at school making cakes and having fun.

After almost two years, Hannah’s worker has gradually moved her to the point where she attends her S1 secondary school class most days.

Ashley told the BBC: “Even taking Hannah to school without her crying and fussing was a big thing and now she gets herself ready and organizes herself for school so it’s a big difference. “

The latest figures from Glasgow City Council show that school absenteeism has increased every year for the past five years.

The council is now working on a campaign to encourage parents to remember the importance of participation.

A report by Reform Scotland last year It found that 200,000 children in Scotland are missing more than one day a fortnight.

And about 80,000 students miss at least one day a week – with less than 80% attendance.

Official data released earlier this year suggested this. 22.3% of students in England were persistently absent in the 2022-2022 academic year – Almost double pre-pandemic levels.

Barry Syme, a lead educational psychologist in Glasgow, told the BBC that children’s truancy is not usually about skipping school.

“I think kids’ days just being shut down is a very simple way of looking at it,” he said.

“We have seen a significant increase in the number of young people with mental health concerns, particularly anxiety and stress.

“It was still a problem pre-pandemic but certainly the pandemic didn’t help it in any way.”

Mr Sime said there had been an increase in the number of young people identified as having neurodiversity and challenges associated with the school environment, such as noise and large numbers of people.

He also said that children are bearing the pressures felt by their parents, such as living expenses.

Colin Simpson, who runs the Quarriers service, said he had seen huge benefits from offering families one-to-one support.

In the first two years, the project worked with around 200 children but another 400 are still waiting.

“There is a huge waiting list for this service because there are so many young people in Glasgow city and beyond who are experiencing absenteeism challenges and they all deserve this kind of support,” he said.

“But it takes time to get a child the support they need.

“And it takes a lot of hard work and energy and a really, really well-established relationship.”

Professor Edward Soso of the University of Strathclyde said the drop in average attendance was a serious concern and Scotland needed to tackle the problem.

He said that increased poverty, mental health issues and the need for additional support are major reasons for the increase in absenteeism.

And he said that regardless of social class or background, it was almost impossible to make up for the time lost in school.

His research looked at people who were between the ages of 34 and 42, and how their school attendance rate affected their outcomes.

“What we found is that missing an average of only 10 days at age 10 is associated with having no qualifications or not being employed at age 42. So missing that little amount of school at that time is had a negative impact,” he said.

“This was regardless of their socio-economic background, regardless of academic outcomes, regardless of all background characteristics.

“Our hypothesis originally was that those from a middle-class background would be able to help their children catch up – but what we found is that regardless of your background, your rate of absenteeism have a negative impact on academic achievement.”