The Greens have welcomed a Senate report on school refusal and have called on the federal government to work with states and territories to immediately begin implementing its recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Greens last year initiated a Senate inquiry into what parents and carers prefer to call \u201cschool can\u2019t\u201d, the inability of a young person to attend school due to a severe negative emotional reaction, in response to growing calls for action from affected families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The committee\u2019s consensus report<\/a> makes 14 recommendations, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia Greens spokesperson on schools Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Greens are pleased that the committee was able to agree that school can\u2019t is an urgent problem that requires an urgent response from the Commonwealth, states and territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite the significant increase in students experiencing school can’t, it’s a problem that has largely gone unexamined to this point, with state and territory governments and school systems failing to collect comprehensive attendance data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs the inquiry heard, school can\u2019t is an issue of inclusion. Too often students are required to adjust to the needs of educational systems and institutions, rather than the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile disability and mental health are risk factors, a focus on disability as the cause of the issue overlooks the failure of schools and education systems to support inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we are to offer a truly inclusive education for all young people, including those experiencing school can\u2019t, systems and institutions need to be prepared to adapt to meet those students\u2019 needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to reduce the stigma and shame felt by students and their families and educate and upskill school administrators, teachers and the wider school community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany students and their families are at breaking point. The need to act is urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n School Can\u2019t Australia said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSubmissions to the inquiry demonstrated that school can\u2019t is a significant issue that is impacting many families. Our parent peer support group has over 9000 members with 1600 waiting to join. We have been doubling in size every year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFamilies in our community report significant stress accessing appropriate supports for their children and themselves. It affects their physical health, mental health and financial well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor many years, school attendance difficulties have been attributed to poor parenting or student mental health. Subsequently, intervention has focussed on parent training and the child\u2019s avoidant behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut it is School Can\u2019t Australia\u2019s lived experience that school can\u2019t is a stress behaviour, not a misbehaviour. We need to identify the stressors that are impacting students and reduce exposure to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrioritising student well-being starts with prioritising teacher well-being. That means we need to resource and equip schools to respond to school can\u2019t in ways that prioritise well-being, including encouraging collaboration with students and their families to identify and reduce stressors within the school environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur vision is that our children\u2019s needs will be better understood and identified early, so that support is provided before they reach crisis point, and that parents and their children no longer feel judgement and shame due to school can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSchool Can\u2019t Australia welcomes the recommendation of funding for parent peer support. Funding will help safeguard and develop this valued service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe thank the Senate for the opportunity to share our community\u2019s lived experience. We also thank the many parents who shared their stories and completed surveys \u2013 their emotional labour was substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Link to the inquiry’s report<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Greens have welcomed a Senate report on school refusal and have called on the federal government to work with states and territories to immediately begin implementing its recommendations. The Greens last year initiated a Senate inquiry into what parents and carers prefer to call \u201cschool can\u2019t\u201d, the inability of a young person to attend … Continue reading “SENATE’S SCHOOL REFUSAL REPORT A POSITIVE FIRST STEP”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22274,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273\/revisions\/22274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}