The most helpful weapon to tackle school anxiety!

 When a child's struggling with school anxiety, it can feel completely overwhelming. And one of the most helpful things you can do is to take a little bit of time to create a clear, targeted support plan - ideally one that everyone agrees with. 

Without a well thought out plan, it's easy to fall into crisis mode. So one day you'll try one approach, and the next day something different. And schools might be doing one thing, parents another. It can feel really inconsistent, frustrating, and exhausting. And that's not just for the grownups, it's also for your child.

A clear support plan will help bring things back into focus. First, it creates clarity. It gives everyone the opportunity to come together and understand what's really going on. And it's really common for parents and schools to have different views when a child's anxious about school.

But without a shared understanding, people can unintentionally work towards different goals, which makes support much less effective.

Creating a plan also helps you think really carefully about what you are working towards and what needs to be in place to achieve this. And often this isn't just about managing anxiety. It may also include a whole range of other things like helping your child feel more included, supporting them to cope with an overwhelming sensory environment, addressing bullying or providing the right learning supports.

A plan also creates consistency, so parents and staff know exactly what strategies are being used so your child receives the same message and support in different places. And it can also make progress clearer. When goals are specific, you can see what's improving and if something isn't working, you can adjust the support.

And perhaps more importantly, the plan gives your child a sense of safety. When they know that adults understand what they find difficult, take them seriously, and are actively working together to help that alone can reduce anxiety.

So a really good support plan isn't just about getting a young person into school. It's also about understanding the bigger picture, building skills and making changes to the environment so that your child feels more able to cope.

If you'd like a little bit of help understanding what might be behind your child's worries about school, you can download my free school anxiety checklist and you can find a link here.