School refusal: what do we actually do?

We have no real answers for school refusal. No guideline, no manual, no agreed pathway, not for GPs and, from recent experience, not even for our schools.

So when a GP colleague stopped me recently and asked what we are meant to do about families dealing with school refusal, all I could honestly offer was that we are working this out as we go.

Back in 2015, nearly four in five Australian students attended school at least 90 per cent of the time. By 2024 that had fallen to just three in five. That means around four in ten kids now miss a month or more of school each year, and reports of school refusal have doubled or even tripled in parts of the country over the last five years. Why is this happening?

There is no simple answer. Not all children fit the confines of a standard school environment. Some need an individual approach to their learning, and I am so impressed by the schools that allow for this. Others have really struggled to adapt, and that is where kids miss out.

My main goal is to look at what is underneath the refusal. Is it anxiety? Something at home? Trauma? Bullying? Not coping with pressure and deadlines? That child clearly has a challenge we have not figured out yet. I also feel we are missing a lot of learning difficulties and mental health problems in kids, and some take years to finally get help. The 2023 Senate inquiry into school refusal found it is most common among neurodivergent children and those living with mental health challenges. For some kids, school is genuinely hard, a place where everything is loud, overstimulating and overwhelming. For others, going to school means leaving mum or dad, and worrying they will never see them again.

I have seen the most success when a school is willing to compromise, within reason, and to build an individual plan so the child can return step by step and slowly find their confidence again. This can take a strengths-based approach: find out what lights them up and build from there, rather than forcing them to do the subjects they hate.

We need to work on this, because the trends are alarming. There is also a need to reduce some of the red tape so kids can get a modified plan supported by their school without needing a psychiatrist to sign off or NDIS to fund it. Surely we can fund more educational assistants to support our stressed and burnt out teachers.

The children who do best are the ones with a team around them, a GP, teachers, parents, an OT and a psychologist, all talking to each other. When that happens, families feel heard. I have seen some amazing stories of kids and teenagers finding their feet again and enjoying their learning while reaching their true potential. Every child deserves that chance.