Main Themes:
- The limitations of traditional attendance models: The article argues that defining attendance solely by physical presence is outdated and detrimental to students facing medical or mental health challenges.
- The potential of “learn from anywhere” solutions: The author highlights the success of telepresence technology during the pandemic and advocates for its continued use to support students unable to attend school physically.
- The need for updated policies and data collection: The article calls for new attendance coding that distinguishes between different types of absences and for better data collection to understand the scope of the issue.
Key Facts and Ideas:
- School attendance crisis: Australia faces a school attendance crisis, with one in three children having a medical or mental health condition impacting their attendance.
- Impact of absence: Missing school, even for short periods, can negatively affect academic performance, mental health, and future prospects.
- The forgotten lesson of COVID: The pandemic demonstrated utility of technology for school connection in a health crisis, but this was abandoned post-lockdowns.
- “School refusal” label: The article cautions against the use of the “school refusal” label, arguing that the term is an artefact of outdated framing for attendance codes.
- Disability Standards for Education (DSE): Highlights the DSE requirement for schools to make “reasonable adjustments”, including use of assistive technology.
- Lack of consistent application of DSE: Discusses schools failure to connect medical/mental health conditions with the DSE, leading to inadequate support.
- New attendance code: Addresses the Australian Government’s adoption of a new “health condition” code for absences, for data to identify students needing support.
Why It Matters:
The article calls for a reimagining of school attendance, moving beyond physical presence to embrace the possibilities of digital presence. By leveraging technology, and updating policies, we can achieve new standards in education equality and connection for students with complex medical and mental conditions who face significant school absence.
The article calls for a reimagining of school attendance, moving beyond physical presence to embrace the possibilities of digital presence. By leveraging technology, and updating policies, we can achieve new standards in education equality and connection for students with complex medical and mental conditions who face significant school absence.
Find the full article here.
