MissingSchool’s digital Helpline, Parent Facebook Group, and weekly ‘Ask Us Anything’ webinars, provide ongoing information and support for parents and carers on school connection options, health-specific education considerations, stakeholder partnering strategies for improved student outcomes, and troubleshooting.

MissingSchool CEO and Co-Founder Megan Gilmour says: 

“In 2010, my world was turned upside down when my son Darcy, then aged 10, was diagnosed with three rare blood disorders, one of which was pre-leukemia. My focus was on keeping him alive after he was flown from our home in Canberra to Sydney Children’s Hospital, ultimately undergoing a bone marrow transplant. As a mother, I’m forever grateful for the medical support and lifesaving treatments that allowed Darcy to lead a happy, healthy life. Today, he is a thriving 23-year-old who loves fitness and travel, and is currently spending six months in Japan on a Japanese language university exchange.

Looking back, I wish I’d had the support and guidance to reduce the trauma Darcy experienced from missing two years of school. The experience taught me a powerful lesson: we can’t wait until these kids are well to enable some sense of normalcy and belonging. Nor can we expect them to easily regain their sense of self – a sense that is critically shaped during their formative years through ongoing connections with classmates, teachers and learning – without dedicated support when they are absent through no fault of their own.

In 2012, I co-founded MissingSchool with two other Canberra mums to share the lessons we had learned from our own lived experiences. Our mission remains the same now as it was then: to ensure that all children are seen and heard, maintaining their “presence” in school by accessing learning from anywhere. A big part of this is taking informed action to give families in management fatigue genuine care.”