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Understanding School Refusal: Strengthening Family and School Partnerships
School refusal is a growing concern impacting students across Australia. Whether gradual or sudden, this behaviour reflects a student’s emotional distress around school attendance. It can be triggered by anxiety, learning challenges, social pressures, or changes in the home environment.
School Refusal & Family Partnership: Schools are actively seeking ways to address school refusal and work in genuine partnership with families to support students in attending school regularly. This webinar is an opportunity to come together, to build shared understanding and solutions.
The aim of this webinar is to discuss: what school refusal looks like, how it affects students and families, and most importantly, what parents, carers, school communities, and educators can do to support their students to re-engage with school in a way that feels safe, supported and sustainable.
Led by Dianne Giblin (CEO of ACSSO) and Nikki Bonus (CEO of Life Skills GO), this session offers a compassionate, collaborative space to unpack a complex issue that affects entire school communities.
How to recognise early signs of school refusal across different ages and stages
What students may be experiencing emotionally – and why validation matters
Practical ways for families to support regular school attendance
Strategies for working in partnership with schools to identify and reduce the barriers
When to seek additional support – and where to find it
Learn what school refusal really means and how it differs from school avoidance or defiance
Connect with a wider network of parents, carers, and educators facing similar challenges
Empower yourself with strategies to support your young person
This webinar is designed for families, parents and carers, as well as anyone in the school community supporting student wellbeing. It is especially relevant for:
Parents and carers of students aged 5–18 who are struggling to attend school regularly
Family members and carers seeking guidance, understanding and practical strategies
Educators and school leaders wanting to strengthen partnerships with families
Wellbeing staff and support workers looking to deepen their understanding of school refusal and its impact on families
Register anyway – we’ll send you the full webinar recording so you can watch it at a time that suits you.
Tiffany Westphal
A founding board member of School Can’t Australia, Tiffany has volunteered in the group for 5+ years.
Louise Rodgers
Louise is a founding board member of School Can’t Australia, Louise has volunteered for over 5 years as an administrator for the online parent/carer peer support group. A parent of two boys and a qualified teacher, she left her career in education to support and home educate her youngest child who was having difficulty attending school.
Louise is a passionate advocate and writer, in support of children and young people with disabilities, their families, and their experience of school. In a former life, Louise was an IT
consultant, holding various roles from programmer to business analyst.
Dianne Giblin AM MICDA – CEO, Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO)
Dianne has worked in education in both paid and unpaid capacity for the past 32 years.
Di has a passion for education, in particular public education, and the opportunities it affords young people. She has led the ACSSO secretariat since 2011 but has been a significant player in parent activism since 1984 when her eldest child commenced school. She is proud of her four children’s achievements – all successes of public education.
She has held various volunteer roles in the parent movement finishing her P&C career as President of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW.
Di was a founding Director of Public Education Foundation whose board position she held for six years; a founding Director of Primary Ethics Board and also a founding Director of The Parenthood board.
She worked in a paid capacity for the NSW education department in a number of roles across a large area of Sydney. Her roles were all in the area of parent engagement and home-school partnerships including school based community officer, across district Community Development Officer and regional Partnership Officer – all through the Priority Schools Program.
Recognition of her work saw her commended for Meritorious Service to Public Education and Training in 2010. In 2012 Dianne was admitted as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her service to public education and the community.
Nikki Bonus, CEO & Founder of Life Skills GO, brings over 20 years of experience in social-emotional literacy programs and real-time wellbeing data solutions. Life Skills GO platform helps schools detect patterns, deploy interventions, and enhance student wellbeing.
