There are still 4,532 Australian children who need extra learning support by this Christmas.

Our Programs
- Literacy programs
  Providing resources and support to help children living with disadvantage achieve the required reading standard.
- Technology programs
  Providing children and young people living with disadvantage with the critical skills, access, and equipment they need.
- Numeracy programs
  We support early years educators and community professionals in building foundational math skills in children under their care.
- Learning for Life
  Providing holistic, long-term support for disadvantaged young Australians throughout their education.
- Mentoring programs
  Mentoring programs for students living with disadvantage that provide the encouragement they need to build aspirations for their future.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs
  Our work engages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in learning through education, life skills and role models, promoting culturally responsive practice.
Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
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Ways to Give
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- Workplace giving
  Making small, regular donations to The Smith Family through Workplace Giving is an easy way to help change the lives of young Australians living in poverty.
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Understanding School Attendance: Challenges and Solutions

Understanding school attendance with The Smith Family CEO, Doug Taylor and Kirsten Hancock

If a student isn't attending well… that, down the track, could affect the kinds of choices they have available to them about the decisions they want to make with their life.

Dr Kirsten Hancock, National Manager, Research and Evaluation, The Smith Family

School attendance is an important focus for The Smith Family. We track and measure the attendance rates for all of the students on our Learning for Life program, as one indicator of how they’re faring at school. Yet in Australia and around the world, there has been a long-term downward trend in attendance levels.

In this conversation, our CEO Doug Taylor speaks with Dr Kirsten Hancock from The Smith Family’s Research and Advocacy team, who has spent the past decade looking at attendance issues here in Australia and overseas. She breaks down the latest trends and challenges in school attendance, emphasising the need for supportive, non-punitive measures.

“For most students who regularly miss school, the fact that they're not there is an indication that some other thing is going on and that they might need some support with,” Kirsten says.

“I think more and more schools and school leaders are understanding that students will respond better to an offer of help than something that's more on the punitive side. So that students can sort of feel, hey, there's someone on my side and this is a good place for me to be.”

Conversation highlights

Kirsten talks to Doug about:

[2:30] Why school attendance is so important for students
[4.54] What’s getting attention in the media around attendance issues
[8.25] The ABC’s Four Corners story on ‘The Kids Who Can’t Go to School’
[10:57] The modern-day challenges around student attendance
[12:08] The reasons why children are missing school and how schools can respond
[14.13] Changes needed at the policy and community level
[16.25] Positive developments to support student attendance

Watch the full conversation below or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Understanding School Attendance: Challenges and Solutions

Conversation highlights

Attendance - FAQ

The problem?

Why does it matter?

What do we know?

What works?

What doesn't work?

What is The Smith Family doing to tackle the issue?

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