We went through this with one of our children who would have be graduating this year. She didn't really like school at the best of times but lockdowns made everything worse. Things never got back to "normal" and she spent more and more time away from school. We were all in a living nightmare, going through so much stress trying to figure out why she didn't want to go. The school was not helpful at all and were extremely judgmental, not considering the problem could be their school. We were not told options for different pathways, and she was told to attend and do her work or she wouldn't do well in the HSC. They also threatened to report us to Family and Community Services, which is something the kids don't think about. Only after realising that she could not go through another year or 2 of school, we looked into the options and pulled her out of school in year 10. She has been studying and working for over a year, and is thriving. It is amazing to see her so happy with where she is now and I regret putting so much stress into a school that had no consideration of the children's mental health.

You know your child, even when they can't articulate why they don't want to go, and there are always other options.