MissingSchool - Charity to Help Unwell Children in Australia

Schooling has always had its difficulties, due to my son E's autism. For this reason, I have worked on building partnerships with his school and facilitating him developing strong friendship groups.This became critical when E was diagnosed with Leukaemia just before his 10th birthday and we learned we had to live 175km from home and school for 9 months while he has treatment. Most of that time is in isolation.When the option of a telepresent robot was given to E he showed genuine excitement for the first time since diagnosis. It has been the perfect tool for keeping him connected and most importantly keeping his morale up. He is able to log onto lessons with his class who are all really engaged in supporting him with his cancer journey.The school also arranges twice weekly social catch ups over lunch where friends and teachers can come and say hello and join E as he drives his robot around the common room interacting with people. I have noticed how much more he laughs and talks not during his online lessons and lunch time catch up, and thankfully this carries over into his time offline where he is again enjoying little things like laughing and enjoying watching TV or chatting online with his 12-year-old brother.I couldn't imagine this journey without E maintaining strong friendships and connections, that has been enhanced greatly through the robot in the school.

My daughters missing school robot Rex ( as she calls it) has been an amazing tool and such a fantastic way for her to stay connected with she school friends during her long hospital admissions or bouts of sickness. It allowed her to not only stay up to date with her school work but also feel like she was still part of the classroom environment. Rex has been a complete lifesaver for us. I would 100% recommend the missing schools program to any family

Having my daughter connected with her class while undergoing treatment for Leukaemia has been just wonderful. Seeing the joy on her face when she sees her class and experiencing a level of 'normality' is so beneficial to her well-being. Her peers have also gained from this great initiative too and love having their friend back in the classroom.

The MissingSchool team were always only a phone call away to guide us with any questions or tech challenges we had when setting up our connection to school via the Robot. It was a wonderful way for my daughter to have a presence in her classroom while she couldn't physically be at school, and maintain connection to her classmates and teacher.

MissingSchool's See-Be robot service is changing the lives of sick kids by helping them participate in their classes and stay connected with their friends. It's one of the best feelings in the world when you know you've helped put a smile on a child's face.And I encourage everyone to support MissingSchool's cause because with their help, sick kids are not just watching from the sidelines, they're no longer isolated, they are there in the classroom with their friends!

Having Belle the robot in our Kindergarten class has been a very positive experience for Artemis, her class mates and her teacher.Artemis has engaged in the activities with her class via Belle. This has supported her academic progress and her overall mental health. The children in the class love chatting with Artemis through the robot.

Missing School are a terrific team offering a fabulous service. In our experience, the team were absolutely focused on ensuring my daughter was well-supported. They coordinated with different school contacts to set up the robot. They were very proactive throughout the process and were a pleasure to deal with under very challenging circumstances. A big thank you to the team for doing what they do and doing it with such warmth and sincerity.

The MissingSchool organisation has been excellent whilst supporting my daughter through her illness. My daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia at age 6, year 1. The MissingSchool robot has been invaluable from an inclusion perspective by keeping her connected with her peers, teacher, and the school as a whole both academically and socially as she is able to move about the school and interact at all times in all locations for any event ( as long as wi-fi is available). The team are always happy to help and support in any way they can and the assisted technology has been a lifeline at times. Thank you MissingSchools!

MissingSchool finds ways for sick kids to be in their usual classroom, when they can't be there physically. It's the small, yet profound parts of usual life that are missed for these kids, and the simple act of turning on a robot, and remembering there's a real person on the other end of the screen, can have a remarkable impact in making sick kids feel seen, heard and included.Telepresence robots give sick kids a sense of autonomy and presence in their usual classroom, and I've seen it build compassion and empathy in peers who are now able to witness the journey instead of their friend just disappearing out of sight, out of mind. There's nothing quite like hearing a parent describe their child smiling for the first time in months because they got to be in" their class and see their friends."

MissingSchool has such great advocacy to help support sick kids be seen and heard through telepresence robots. We are all hard-wired to connect and thus, kids who are missing school are missing great connections and experiences that could help them developmentally. MissingSchool fills that gap through assistive technology - making distance never an issue to achieve high quality education and experience for kids missing school!