The Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment joined the National Care Conference in Melbourne from 9-11 August 2024 to undertake research as part of their ARC project.
Two workshops were facilitated by Dr Emily Rudling and Professor Kitty te Riele (Peter Underwood Centre, University of Tasmania) with Professor Daryl Higgins (Australian Catholic University) and involved around 150 delegates in a survey, world café and discussion. Care sector workers along with foster, kinship, permanent and residential carers contributed deep and valuable insights which will help the research team find ways to support kids in care to be at school, so they can benefit from education just like any other child.
We know that absence from school (for whatever reason) means students miss out on all the benefits school has to offer. And we also know that children in care are absent from school more than their peers. People at the conference confirmed that these absences are often outside the control of these students.
“Mental health, self-harm, peer issues at school, conflicts with teachers, [and] feeling different from others” are just some of the issues young people are faced with, said the foster carer of a Year 10 student.
Many kids in care have experienced significant trauma (with their circumstances leading child protection authorities to decide to place them in out-of-home care) which can make attending school difficult. The foster carer of a different Year 10 student said that movement from one care placement to another (often meaning a change in school as well) is also disruptive and stressful: “placement is new, lots of changes.”
Students in care more often have an illness or disability, such as anxiety, ADHD, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Several carers mentioned that as a result, school was too overwhelming for their child, with one kinship carer of a Year 6 student sharing that their “child has mental health issues and [is] academically struggling.”
Carers have a range of experiences with school staff, but a throughline in what the research team heard is that schools are too often stretched for resources and do not have access to the necessary support to enable students in care to attend.
“The school is a small regional school. Limited staff [are] available to support the child when she is emotionally unregulated,” said the case manager for a Prep/foundation student.
“It is difficult to help the school understand the needs of a child with a trauma background who also has an invisible disability. They have been generally responsive but not so good at following through with strategies,” said the foster carer of a Year 9 student.
The research project is led by Professor Kitty te Riele in collaboration with academic colleagues as well as partner organisations. The team were delighted to catch-up with colleagues from partner organisations who had stands at the conference, including Life Without Barriers Berry Street, Key Assets Australia, and MacKillop Family Services.
Sign up to connect with the research project here.