Practical support for parents working through school non-attendance.

Coaching, school liaison, and steady guidance that help when you’re stuck on how to get your child to school.

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Explore Our Approach

Steady Steps Education works with parents to make sense of what’s happening and decide what to do about it.

School non-attendance usually has more than one cause. Something is going on for your child, something is happening at school, and the two are interacting in ways that aren't easy to navigate.

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Steady Steps Education works with parents

What is School Non-Attendance?

School non-attendance describes a pattern where a child refuses to go to school or finds it very difficult to remain in the classroom for most of the day. It is sometimes called school refusal, school phobia, 'school can't', or emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). It affects between one and five per cent of school-aged children.

It is generally not a sign of defiance. It is more commonly a response to significant emotional distress, and is closely linked to anxiety and depression in children and adolescents.

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My goal isn't just school attendance - it’s the long-term well-being of your child.”

Meet Richard: Your Partner in This Journey.

Richard Amery has worked in education for over fifteen years, teaching in primary schools across Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria, and the UK. He has held roles as a classroom teacher, year level coordinator, and Leading Teacher, with a particular focus on classroom culture, behaviour support, and the conditions that allow children to engage with learning.

He later moved into the public service, working on programs and policy supporting children and adolescents in the Victorian school system. He is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, with academic interests in child development, wellbeing, and the factors that contribute to school non-attendance. 

Steady Steps Education brings these together: classroom experience, system-level perspective, and a developmental psychology lens, applied to the practical work of supporting families.

Why Steady Steps?

Most of what's available to parents working through school non-attendance falls into two categories. There's the broad advice on websites and parent forums, which is usually correct but rarely specific enough to act on. And then there are tailored services that focus heavily on getting the child back into the building, often through some form of rapid return. 

School non-attendance is rarely that simple. It's multifactorial. Emotional, family, and school factors usually interact, and it tends to recur if the underlying drivers aren't addressed. The evidence points in three directions at once: cognitive behavioural strategies, multi-component support that works across more than one factor, and close collaboration between family and school. Steady Steps Education is built around all three.

How We Work

Individualised, Not Formulaic.

Sessions are shaped by what's actually contributing to your child's non-attendance. Emotional, family, and school factors usually all play a part, in different proportions for different families.

Working With Parents.

Coaching parents directly is one of the most effective ways to shift things. It builds your understanding of what's going on, gives you practical strategies to try, and lets us scaffold support so you can take it on yourself over time.

CBT-Informed and Evidence-Based

The strategies we work with are grounded in current research on school non-attendance, parent-focused intervention, and home-school collaboration.

Sits Between School and Clinical Care

Useful while you're on a waiting list, useful alongside an existing psychologist or paediatrician, and useful where the school's standard supports haven't been enough.