There is a particular kind of doubt that creeps in when your child stops attending school. At first, you may be completely focused on getting through each morning. You are dealing with tears, tummy aches, anger, hiding, shutdown or a child simply telling you, “I can't.” You are trying to communicate with school at the same time as keeping yourself regulated enough to support the child in front of you. Then a few days pass. Maybe a week. And another worry starts to appear. “Am

September can carry an enormous amount of hope when your child has been struggling with school. After weeks away from the school environment, you may have started seeing little glimpses of them returning over the summer. Perhaps they slept better, laughed more, spent time doing the things they enjoyed or simply seemed calmer without the constant pressure of school hanging over them. It is completely understandable to look at those changes and quietly hope, “Maybe September wi

September has a way of making everything suddenly feel urgent. The summer ends, uniforms appear, schools reopen and conversations quickly turn towards attendance. If your child has been struggling with school, you may suddenly find yourself surrounded by questions about when they are going back, what timetable they can manage, whether they could try a morning or whether this week might be the week to increase their hours. And I understand why. We want children to have access

“They’re fine once they’re here.” If your child is struggling with school, there’s a good chance you’ve heard those words at some point. They are often meant to reassure you, but when you’ve just spent an hour or two trying to help your child leave the house, they can feel anything but reassuring. Because school didn’t see the morning you just experienced. They didn’t see your child struggling to get out of bed, the tummy ache that appeared when school was mentioned, the unif

It's that time of the summer holidays when it starts creeping in. You see the school uniform adverts. The supermarket aisles suddenly fill with lunchboxes and pencil cases. Friends begin talking about getting back into routines. And without even realising it, your mind starts jumping ahead to September. For many families, that's exciting. For others, it brings a knot in your stomach. If your child has found school overwhelming this year, September can feel less like a fresh s

One of the questions I get asked most over the summer holidays is: "How do I know if my child is actually recovering?" It's such a good question because recovery doesn't come with a neat checklist. There isn't a day where your child wakes up and suddenly says, "I'm ready now." Recovery is much quieter than that. It's made up of tiny moments that are really easy to miss if we're only looking for the big things, like getting out of the house every day or feeling ready to go bac

One of the comments I hear the most during the summer holidays is... "All they're doing is lying in bed or playing on the Xbox." It's usually followed by a worried look, a sigh, and then the question... "Should I be making them do more?" If I'm honest, I completely understand why parents ask this. We're surrounded by messages telling us that children should be out making memories, trying new activities, keeping busy and making the most of every minute of the holidays. Scroll

"They're a completely different child now school's finished." It's something I hear from parents every single year. Sometimes it's said with relief. Sometimes with confusion. And sometimes with worry. "They've slept until lunchtime every day." "All they want to do is play on the Xbox." "They're more emotional than ever." "I thought things would get better once school finished, but they actually seem worse." If you've found yourself thinking any of those things over the first