Louise Rogers & Tiffany Westphal from School Can’t Australia Who is School Can’t Australia?   School Can’t Australia (SCA) is a national peer support community, for parents and primary carers, supporting children and young people experiencing school attendance difficulties. SCA’s Facebook group was started in 2014 by a parent, travelling the School Can’t Journey alongside her…

Family Engagement in Learning Introduction In this blog, I focus on “School Attendance” to explore the intricacies of children not going to school. The phrase “school refusal” fails to reflect the subtle realities many families face; often, children are unable to attend rather than intentionally refusing. Therefore, I prefer to use terms like “school reluctance”…

An explanation of Dan Siegel’s hand brain model and how it helps you understand what happens when you get stressed.  The brain is an extraordinarily complex organ that sits at the head of the nervous system and controls the countless processes that keep you and your body functioning. Some of these actions and processes will occur…

Katrina Gow Trying not to provoke an uncomfortable reaction from your child can feel like you are walking on eggshells. What are these metaphorical eggshells and why do I feel this way?  Feeling like you are ‘walking on eggshells’ around your child is not fun. The essence of the metaphor is that you need to…

COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE AND BE SAFE. ORGANISATIONS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM HARM. In this blog, the Commission for Children and Young People focus on the topic of grooming. Grooming is a form of child abuse and can have a devastating, long-term impact…

Knowing what to do or say when a teen is experiencing thoughts of suicide can be a challenging and scary issue for parents and carers to face.  It is clear that parents play an important role in keeping a teen safe through a suicidal crisis1, 2. Below are a range of strategies for responding to…

                                        Introduction  In this article, I have used the title “School Attendance” as an overarching theme to address the conversation. I deliberately avoided the term “school refusal,” which I believe inaccurately describes the experiences of some parents and children. In many cases, the child is simply unable to attend school rather than outright refusing to…

Learn how to stop this unhelpful pattern of behaviour. There are better ways to communicate.  The hamster wheel  A conversation with your teen can sometimes feel like you are running on a hamster wheel. You feel like you are going around in circles, getting nowhere. As your stress levels increase, so does the intensity of…

Three things to try when faced with an emotional or anxious teen.  A time of profound change  Adolescence is a time of profound physical, social, and emotional change. Teens are grappling with a myriad of challenges, including peer pressure, academic stress, physical changes, and their search for identity. They are, in effect, experiencing an existential…

You and your child are not the same. This powerful tool will help you better understand your teen.  What is a ‘beginner mind’?  The concept of beginner mind originates from Zen Buddhism and refers to approaching life with an open and fresh perspective, much like that of a beginner. It involves letting go of preconceptions,…