Student Wellbeing

School Can't 

What is School Can't? 

School Can't is about an overwhelming anxiety that is so terrifying and disabling that your child cannot go to school regardless of the consequences to themselves and the effects on your family. 

Truancy is different; this is when a young person feels they have something better to do.

Signs leading up to and including School Can't 

What may start as occasional school avoidance can snowball and develop into school refusal. Some of the signs you may recognise are: 

•  Complaining about attending school. 

• Difficulty getting out of bed and dawdling when preparing to go to school. 

• Increased reluctance to attend after-school breaks or days when your child feels open to criticism e.g., assessments, reading aloud or sports etc. 

• Complaints of nausea, stomach aches, diarrhoea, headaches, sleep and appetite disturbances (a medical opinion should be sought to rule out a medical condition). 

• Difficulty with school-work and decreased participation in class. 

• Anxiety/shyness, depression, social isolation or withdrawal, threats of self-harm (a medical opinion should be sought). 

• Behaviours such as: verbal and physical aggression, clinginess, seeking reassurance, noncompliance, and running away from school or home. 

•   Experiencing bullying at school. 

• Perceives an excessive workload, subject stressors, suffers from perfectionism, poor sense of academic competence, learning challenges, and feeling disconnected.

Ways of connecting with your child and helping them cope with schoolwork are: 

• Chatting about what is going on in school in casual conversations. Not interrogating! 

• When your child first gets home talk about non-school topics for a while unless your child raises the topic. Wait until your child is more settled. 

Rather than asking a general question about school like, ‘How was school?’, more specific questions might be: 

- What did you do at lunchtime today? 

- Who did you hang out with today? 

- What is school like this term compared with last term? 

- What subjects did you do today?

- What was the best thing at school today?

For more information click on the School Refusal Tip sheet below.