Wellbeing

School Refusal/ Avoidance

A growing concern among Australian families, school refusal (also known as school avoidance), is when a young person becomes very distressed and anxious about going to school, to the point that they refuse to attend. Mount Carmel staff are committed to working in partnership with any families experiencing school refusal or avoidance challenges, every day matters.

There are many signs of school refusal. Some of the most common ones include:

• crying or yelling related to attending school
• frequent health complaints, such as stomach aches, headaches, dizziness or fatigue
• repeated requests to go home from school
• high levels of absenteeism or frequent lateness to school
• difficulty falling asleep the night before school.

If you are noticing these behaviours in your daughter, it is important to speak to your GP about your concerns and reach out to staff at Mount Carmel College.

The College has a number of staff trained in supporting students and their families with school refusal challenges.  If your daughter is school refusing, we encourage you  to use the ‘School Refusal’ reason on the College attendance page or inform our Student Services staff that ‘School ‘Refusal’ is the reason for your daughter's absence.

If we see a pattern of School Refusal within one term, a relevant staff member will make contact with you to offer support to help your daughter return to school.