The recent federal election result has delivered a loud and clear message across the country that we want our political leaders to commit to policies that enable equality, fairness, and compassion. That needs to extend to our children and young people, including appropriate support in educational settings. Shorna Moore of Melbourne City Mission (MCM) and Sally Lasslett of MCM and Hester Hornbrook Academy (@MelbCityMission) explain how the incoming federal government can enact simple policy changes to support all students back to the classroom after concerning data shows that a growing number of vulnerable young people have disengaged from their education following the pandemic.

*Students at Hester Hornbrook Academy. Photo supplied by Melbourne City Mission.*

The isolating effect of the pandemic has been felt acutely by young people across Australia, with lockdown measures and COVID mandates disrupting the routines and connections that keep young people safe and engaged. Many have been exposed to increased risk of family violence, mental health pressures and insecure housing due to escalating financial and health stress. For young people who have less agency and fewer resources to protect themselves, especially in the context of increased social isolation, the impact has been severe.

While the government’s response to the pandemic was effective in suppressing the virus, some of the public health measures have been disproportionately felt by young people. Beyond the well-documented impacts on young people’s mental health, COVID has severely disrupted their education and broader social and emotional development. The concern now is that post-COVID these impacts will continue to be felt.

Students struggling to return to onsite learning

The pandemic challenged the mental health of many students, and since the reopening of schools, the data has shown that many have been unable to return to the classroom and to onsite learning. This growing cohort across Australia are at risk of disengaging from their education completely. HHA is on the growing list of independently registered Special Assistance Schools (SASs) in Australia, offering a trauma-informed, healing-oriented learning environment. These flexible and individualised schools work especially for and with students experiencing complex barriers to their education and who have disengaged from mainstream schooling. HHA operates three campuses across Victoria and has over 370 senior secondary students enrolled. All the young people who are enrolled at HHA have significant social and emotional issues which can include carrying the burden of trauma, complex mental illness, homelessness, dysfunctional family life (or have no family at all) and addiction.

HHA is at the cutting edge of providing students with flexible applied learning options, extensive literacy and numeracy tier-three interventions and assertive outreach, alongside a strong allied health and auxiliary team, including mental health supports, school lawyers, nurses and doctors. Occupational and Speech Therapists develop students’ individual strengths and build their social and emotional competencies. Schools like HHA incorporate all the above wrap-around supports because research has shown these are critical for achieving academic success.

Many SASs are concerned about the longer-term impact that COVID-19 is having on students who experience complex mental health conditions, such as social anxiety. Social anxiety has been an increasing problem for young people generally, and indications are that social isolation norms associated with the pandemic have exacerbated the problem for many young people. These students continue to face challenges in returning to the physical classroom. At HHA, the number of students who attend the classroom less than 10% has more than doubled since the beginning of the pandemic, while other SASs are reporting more than a 15% drop in whole-school attendance.

Unless a focused and concerted effort is made by governments to support these students to re-engage physically with the school and classroom environment, these young people are at risk of being left behind as the country recovers from the pandemic.

‘Bums on seats’ funding undermines flexible learning options

Independently registered SASs like HHA receive funding from the Federal Government for students who physically attend the classroom, often referred to as ‘participation rates’ or ‘bums on seats’ funding. This funding through the NCCD provides the broad range of wrap-around services for the extensive level of social and emotional disability that our students experience. The extensive level of adjustments provided to each individual student in terms of their learning and wellbeing allows a multi-disciplinary team to work to achieve positive pathways for our young people.

However, this on-site attendance needed to meet the Federal Government’s Census requirements is beyond many of these students despite their, and the schools’, best efforts. For some students, their significant mental health and trauma experiences and/or their current state of crisis means that they are unable to present to campus during the Census period.

Currently, there are many SASs that are at risk of educating and supporting students who will not qualify for government funding and therefore risk losing access to their education because they are facing barriers to learning in the physical classroom. The important wellbeing and learning work that is done to prepare and transition highly disengaged students to enter the school environment (through assertive outreach), is not considered for Census funding as there is no physical attendance at a school site.

Furthermore, this traditional ‘bums on seats’ funding model does not provide for any remote learning opportunities for students who may experience barriers to physical attendance, including students with mental health conditions such as social anxiety. These barriers prevent some young people from accessing, participating, and completing their education.

A way forward

The pandemic has raised questions about how education could look in the future. The experience has not only opened our eyes to the challenges of remote learning, but also to several exciting possibilities, including how teaching and learning away from the classroom might play a bigger role in the education of some students.

*A game of basketball at the Hester Hornbrook Academy. Photo supplied by Melbourne City Mission.*

One facet of this includes refining our definition of ‘participation in schooling’. Specifically, we see a distinction between ‘turning up’, as in ‘participation rates’ or ‘bums on seats’ versus the ‘deeper’ meaning of ‘participation’ which considers how teaching and learning away from the classroom might fit into the Australian education system going forward.

As the country continues to rebuild and recover from the pandemic, there must be focused and concerted effort made by the new leadership to ensure that no young person is left behind. As a first step, the incoming Federal Government must urgently review current funding arrangements for independently registered SASs to include more flexible and remote learning options for students who require further support to re-engage physically with their school and classroom environment. This will allow more young people to participate in and complete their education, including students who experience mental health issues that impact on their ability to learn in traditional classroom settings.

Posted by @SusanMaury

What we learned from the pandemic: Simple steps to make inclusive education more accessible