A new report by the Productivity Commission last week has revealed more children are missing school than a decade ago.
It’s a key issue being faced in the education space, with figures showing that, across the nation, student attendance rates for Years one-10 fell from 92.6 in 2015, to 88.3 per cent.
In 2025, as students return to the classroom, one thing is clear: the role of teachers has never been more complex or broad. Today’s teachers have responsibilities that extend beyond the delivery of the Australian Curriculum – they also play an essential role shaping the future of society by nurturing the development of tomorrow’s citizens.
So, what can educators do to play an active part in stemming the drop in school attendance rates?
Experts in education argue that schools must do more than teach literacy and numeracy. They must also foster:
- student wellbeing
- safe, supportive learning environments
- social and emotional skills, including navigating friendships
- sensitivity to trauma and its impact on learning
Alongside these growing demands, teachers are grappling with a more crowded curriculum, heightened emotional needs from students and increasing pressures from parents. This has led to burnout and record numbers of educators leaving the profession.
While parents and carers are doing their best, children need more support to ensure healthy, effective learning. Simply critiquing or blaming parents for not doing enough is unproductive and systemic support is key to building strong home-school connections.
Prioritising individual needs
One approach gaining momentum in schools across Australia is the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM). This model prioritises the individual needs of students and the broader school community, fostering a positive classroom culture that leads to higher student engagement and stronger educational outcomes.
Dr Tom Brunzell is Director of Education at Berry Street and told EducationDaily that the BSEM helps students develop strategies for self-regulation, building relationships and improving their wellbeing. It has also been shown to increase engagement in learning and student wellbeing outcomes.
Currently, around 80,000 teachers have already undergone BSEM training and implemented strategies in their classrooms. Brunzell says the goal is to equip educators with fresh perspectives, skills and techniques to create safer, healthier and more engaging classrooms for all students.
“Originally, BSEM was designed to help children who had experienced stress overload, childhood adversity and trauma, providing them with connection and support in the classroom,” he says.
“However, it has since delivered impressive results in improving student well-being in mainstream schools across the country.”
Brunzell told EducationDaily that, with today’s teachers facing a huge variety of classroom challenges, including students with increasingly complex needs, educators “must understand the individual needs of their students and create environments where those needs can be met”.
“Most importantly, the classroom needs to be a place where students’ basic human needs are addressed,” he says.
“Children cannot be expected to learn if they do not feel safe, if they are hungry or if they lack the foundational skills needed to succeed in a classroom environment.”
Brunzell says teachers can be better equipped by being exposed to “new methods that improve classroom morale and set clear expectations through connection”.
“This might include implementing regular routines and exercises to boost concentration, confidence and camaraderie.”
The impact on emotional development
Given that children spend around 30 per cent of their waking hours in school, the experiences they have there – both positive and negative – can have a lasting impact on their emotional development and future progress.
“Teachers must be aware of much more than curriculum delivery. If they must be aware of strategies towards emotional regulation, relational repair and restorative practices, they must be aware of the proactive things they can do to integrate the sciences of wellbeing into their instructional delivery,” Brunzell told EducationDaily.
“Without that knowledge, our research shows numbers of teachers leaving the profession because they feel unsupported. Many educators are noticing shifts in classroom dynamics, and they feel unequipped to handle these changes.”
Navigating the evolving education landscape
Across the past five years, Brunzell says one of the biggest shifts in the education landscape is the gap between learning at home and learning at school.
“The relationship between parents and teachers has sometimes become a culture of blame, which does not help improve student outcomes,” he says.
Although Brunzell says schools, parents and teachers are all doing their best with the resources, time and skills they have, he believes schools should consider what more they can do to support families and prevent students from disengaging from their education.
“The long-term impact of technology on students’ learning is still being studied, and there is more research needed to understand the connection between schools and student wellbeing,” he says.
“In my opinion, the most important thing schools can do is to upskill teachers in how to support their students’ engagement with learning and creating cultures of high expectations, which help every student to keep moving forward.
“This can make all the difference between a teacher staying in the profession or burning out. It can also be the difference between a classroom that is disruptive and one that is supportive and productive.”
Ultimately, Brunzell says both schools and parents should focus on raising engaged and positive community members.
“For students to thrive, they need to feel motivated to come to school and learn,” he told EducationDaily.
“We are seeing attendance rates decline, with a significant rise in school avoidance. It is a serious issue, and fostering a positive classroom environment is one way to combat this.
“A positive classroom culture does not just improve attendance. It also helps students form better friendships, reduces bullying and builds lifelong skills in resilience and determination. Academic progress will follow naturally from that.”
