Not just
staying home.

Understanding emotion-based school avoidance through case formulation.

Leanne Brooke · Senior Psychologist Education, NSW Department of Education
NSW Premier's Teaching Scholarship — sponsored by The Anika Foundation

Open the RTSK → Get the slide show
The centrepiece

The Reconnect to School Kit

A free case formulation and intervention-planning tool for clinicians and education staff. Work through a structured questionnaire, generate evidence-informed suggestions, and export a plan.

1

Case management

Open, save, and manage student case files. All data stays on your device.

2

The questionnaire

Select the relevant indicators. Conditional questions appear automatically as needed.

3

Evidence-informed suggestions

The report generates strategies and links to resources for schools, parents, and young people.

4

Customise

Deselect strategies that don't fit. You are the clinician — the tool supports your judgement.

5

Export

Export to Word or PDF. Ready for case notes, consultations, or parent meetings.

Try the RTSK

Free to use No login required Export to Word or PDF
Open the RTSK →

Slides & key takeaways

Download the slides

Trauma Aware Education Conference Presentation - October 2026 PDF · slide deck

Three things to take away

  • 1 The young person's inner world is rarely simpleSeek to understand and hear their voice before reaching for solutions. The most important contributor is not always the most obvious one.
  • 2 The formulation shapes the planIf the strategies aren't working, go back to the formulation — not just the strategy list. The hypothesis must be right before the plan can be effective.
  • 3 The school environment is part of the equationEBSA is not solely a student problem, and not solely a school problem. KiTeS reminds us to hold the complexity across the individual, family, school, and wider context.
Go further

Resources & further reading

Tools for hearing the student's perspective, plus the evidence base behind the slide show. Open to anyone — share freely with your teams.

Tools for student voice

The young person is our most important source of information.

  • Reconnect to School Kit (RTSK) School refusal assessment & intervention guide. Free, no login, exports to Word or PDF. Open the kit →
  • Landscape of Fear (Primary) A visual tool for younger students to map where in the school day distress rises and eases. Open PDF →
  • Picture Cards for EBSA Image-based prompts to help students communicate feelings about school when words are hard. Open resource →
  • School Can't Toolkit (AMAZE) AMAZE's toolkit for understanding and responding to "school can't", and hearing the young person's experience. Open PDF →
  • Inventory of School Attendance Problems (ISAP) — Youth Youth self-report (English) exploring the reasons behind attendance difficulties. Open PDF →
  • SCREEN — User Manual Guidance for administering and interpreting the SCREEN school attendance instrument. Open PDF →
  • SNACK Questionnaire (English) A student questionnaire on school attendance and connectedness (English version). Open PDF →
  • School Refusal Assessment Scale–Revised (SRAS-R) Identifies the function behind school refusal in young people aged 8–17. Open resource →
  • Perception of School Social Bonding Instrument Measures a young person's sense of connection and belonging at school. Open PDF →

Key reading

The frameworks and evidence the slide show drew on, referenced in APA 7th.

  1. Allen, J. G., Fonagy, P., & Bateman, A. W. (2008). Mentalizing in clinical practice. American Psychiatric Publishing.
  2. Armfield, J. M., Gnanamanickam, E., Nguyen, H. T., Doidge, J. C., Brown, D. S., Preen, D. B., & Segal, L. (2020). School absenteeism associated with child protection system involvement, maltreatment type, and time in out-of-home care. Child Maltreatment, 25(4), 433-445. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559520907682
  3. Bevington, D., Fuggle, P., Cracknell, L., & Fonagy, P. (2017). Adaptive mentalization-based integrative treatment: A guide for teams to develop systems of care. Oxford University Press.
  4. Bevington, D., Fuggle, P., Fonagy, P., Target, M., & Asen, E. (2013). Adolescent mentalization-based integrative therapy (AMBIT): A new integrated approach to working with the most hard to reach adolescents with severe complex mental health needs. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 18(1), 46-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2012.00666.x
  5. Brede, J., Remington, A., Kenny, L., Warren, K., & Pellicano, E. (2017). Excluded from school: Autistic students' experiences of school exclusion and subsequent re-integration into school. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 2, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/2396941517737511
  6. Connolly, S. E., Constable, H. L., & Mullally, S. L. (2023). School distress and the school attendance crisis: A story dominated by neurodivergence and unmet need. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, Article 1237052. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1237052
  7. Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvåg, S. K. (2015). School factors associated with school refusal- and truancy-related reasons for school non-attendance. Social Psychology of Education, 18, 221-240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9293-y
  8. Higgins, D. J., Mathews, B., Pacella, R., Scott, J. G., Finkelhor, D., Meinck, F., Erskine, H. E., Thomas, H. J., Lawrence, D. M., Haslam, D. M., Malacova, E., & Dunne, M. P. (2023). The prevalence and nature of multi-type child maltreatment in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 218(S6), S19-S25. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51868
  9. Kerns, C. M., Lankenau, S., Shattuck, P. T., Robins, D. L., Newschaffer, C. J., & Berkowitz, S. J. (2022). Exploring potential sources of childhood trauma: A qualitative study with autistic adults and caregivers. Autism, 26(8), 1987-1998. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211070637
  10. Li, A., Guessoum, S. B., Ibrahim, N., Lefèvre, H., Moro, M. R., & Benoit, L. (2021). A systematic review of somatic symptoms in school refusal. Psychosomatic Medicine, 83(7), 715-723. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000956
  11. Macneil, C. A., Hasty, M. K., Conus, P., & Berk, M. (2012). Is diagnosis enough to guide interventions in mental health? Using case formulation in clinical practice. BMC Medicine, 10, Article 111. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-10-111
  12. Maïano, C., Normand, C. L., Salvas, M.-C., Moullec, G., & Aimé, A. (2016). Prevalence of school bullying among youth with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Autism Research, 9(6), 601-615. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1568
  13. McKay-Brown, L., et al. (2018). Reengagement: A multidisciplinary approach. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.
  14. Melvin, G. A., Heyne, D., Gray, K. M., Hastings, R. P., Totsika, V., Tonge, B. J., & Freeman, M. M. (2019). The Kids and Teens at School (KiTeS) framework: An inclusive bioecological systems approach to understanding school absenteeism and school attendance problems. Frontiers in Education, 4, Article 61. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00061
  15. Melvin, G., McKay-Brown, L., Heyne, D., & Cameron, L. (2025). Interventions to promote school attendance. Australian Education Research Organisation.
  16. Parliament of Australia. (2023). The national trend of school refusal and related matters. Senate Education and Employment References Committee.
  17. Quinton, A. M. G., Ali, D., Danese, A., Happé, F., & Rumball, F. (2024). The assessment and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in autistic people: A systematic review. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-024-00430-9
  18. Rumball, F., Happé, F., & Grey, N. (2020). Experience of trauma and PTSD symptoms in autistic adults: Risk of PTSD development following DSM-5 and non-DSM-5 traumatic life events. Autism Research, 13(12), 2122-2132. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2306
  19. Stempel, H., Cox-Martin, M., Bronsert, M., Dickinson, L. M., & Allison, M. A. (2017). Chronic school absenteeism and the role of adverse childhood experiences. Academic Pediatrics, 17(8), 837-843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.09.013
  20. Thambirajah, M. S., Grandison, K. J., & De-Hayes, L. (2008). Understanding school refusal: A handbook for professionals in education, health and social care. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  21. Totsika, V., Hastings, R. P., Dutton, Y., Worsley, A., Melvin, G., Gray, K., Tonge, B., & Heyne, D. (2020). Types and correlates of school non-attendance in students with autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 24(7), 1639-1649. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320916967
  22. Wang, H., & Qin, Q. (2025). The role of anxiety and trauma in predicting school avoidance among students: A structural equation modeling analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1687797. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1687797
  23. Weerasekera, P. (1996). Multiperspective case formulation: A step towards treatment integration. Krieger Publishing.
Acknowledgement of Country

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which I work and live: the Awabakal and Darkinjung Nations. I pay respect to the wisdom of Elders past and present, and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.