A few years ago, Sarah Crewdson couldn't imagine a day when getting her son Nicholas to school wasn't an emotional battle.
"He would beg me not to send him to school," she said.
"There were lots of times where I would cry to the teachers because I didn't know what to do."
Now, their mornings are completely different.
The only real struggle Nicholas faces, like most 17-year-olds, is getting out of bed on time.
The catalyst for this transformation, Ms Crewdson said, was enrolling Nicholas in a special assistance school.
These independent schools cater for students with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties and focus on re-engaging them with learning.
There were 96 independent special assistance schools nationally in 2022, with 13,100 students.
According to an Independent Schools Australia report, student number growth between 2014 and 2022 was "an extraordinary 291 per cent", up by 9,747 students, compared to an 18 per cent growth in mainstream independent schools.
Rebecca English, from the Queensland University of Technology, said this trend towards alternative schools and a rise in homeschooling signalled the need for a "broader national conversation" about the future of education in Australia.
"The way we're doing mainstream schooling clearly isn't working," Dr English said.
"Parents are leaving in droves … teachers aren't sticking around.
"Maybe if we all came to the table … we'd be able to find ways to meet the needs of young people who are still slipping through the cracks."
From frustration to enjoyment
Had Nicholas not enrolled in Carinity Education Rockhampton, Ms Crewdson believes he would have dropped out of school.
Nicholas has autism, with anxiety around school related to bullying and judgement from classmates in primary school.
But now he looks forward to school and says he is "pretty comfortable" in an environment that once made him frustrated and angry.
That's exactly what principal Lyn Harland strives for at the school, which has recently opened a second campus on the outskirts of Rockhampton.
Governed by the Baptist Union of Queensland, Carinity Education Rockhampton is a special assistance school for students who have found mainstream education unsuitable.
There is a waitlist of more than 100 people.
While special assistance schools teach the same curriculum, Ms Harland said the inclusion of youth workers and therapeutic support in the classroom made it more holistic.
"You can have a school that is absolutely phenomenal in regard to … embedding curriculum," she said.
"But if you have a young person … [whose] wellbeing is not being looked after, they generally don't have the capacity to think of anything else."
Classes are structured differently, and there's no homework. Instead, learning profiles and assessments are completed within the school.
"As an example, we might say this term where we're doing a Vikings unit," Ms Harland said.
" So, within that unit will be embedded all of your English, all of your maths, all of your science.
"Alternative schooling does not mean less than."
Dr English said it was time to let go of the myth that these schools weren't as specialised or comprehensive.
"There are mainstream schools that specialise in golf … dance … the arts," she said.
"All of them are providing an education that is registered with the Australian government.
"That it is equivalent to any other mainstream school. It's just the way of doing education is different."
Ideas about education 'outdated'
Despite finding success with the model, Ms Crewdson said she still faced misconceptions when telling people where her children were doing their school.
"There are a lot of people who don't know what the school is about, who always jump to the conclusion that it's 'for the naughty kids' and it's not," she said.
Dr English said the idea that education only looked like one type of schooling was "quite outmoded and outdated".
"There's lots of different young people in our education systems, and we need to be meeting their needs and where they are," she said.
"That is going to help them to love learning and be engaged and want to turn up to school every day, rather than making it a horrible chore."
A parliamentary committee is examining the national trend of school refusal across primary and secondary schools, with the report expected in June.
After Nicholas's positive experience, Ms Crewdson enrolled her younger son, Lachlan, when he started high school.
She now plans to do the same for her daughter, Indigo.
"It takes a village to raise a child, and I feel like the school has helped me raise [Nicholas] in a sense," Ms Crewdson said.
