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Supporting the Strugglers: Stories Behind the Empty Desk. 🏫

Behind school non-attendance often sits a child or young person who faces emotional challenges that don't need to be 'fixed' but instead heard. Every empty desk tells a story.

In this 2-hour online session, we’ll move beyond the label of Emotionally Based School Avoidance and explore the lived experiences of three young people; uncovering what they feel, what they need, and how adults can respond in ways that support both the child and their family on the journey back to learning.

📅 Thursday 16th October
⏰ 9.30am–11.30am
💻 Online via Zoom
💰 £75 per person

🔗 Book your place via the link in bio

When schools and communities invest in Trauma Informed training, it’s not just a tick-box exercise, it’s about making steps towards transforming the way staff connect, support, and respond to the children and young people in their care. 💛

Thank you to all those who open their doors (and hearts) to this work; together, we’re creating environments where both staff and children can flourish .

Interested to hear more about our Whole Staff Training? check the link in bio! 🔗

Pan fydd plentyn neu berson ifanc yn cael trafferth, gall y ffordd yr ydym yn ymateb wneud byd o wahaniaeth.
Gall defnyddio brawddegau empathig fel y rhain eu helpu i deimlo eu bod yn cael eu deall a'u cefnogi.

Gadewch i ni flaenoriaethu empathi yn ein rhyngweithiadau, a chreu ardal diogel lle gallant fynegi eu teimladau a dechrau gwella eu iechyd ✨

Sentence Stems 💬
When a child or young person is struggling, the way we respond can make all the difference.
Using empathic sentence stems like these can help them feel understood and supported.

Let’s prioritise empathy in our interactions, and create a safe space where they can express their feelings and begin to heal. ✨

Tell us some of the sentence stems you use to connect with the children and young people you work with in the comments! 💬

For children and young people in foster care, adoption, or kinship families, therapeutic stories can be more than just words on a page, they can create a space to process their own life stories in a safe way.

When read together with an emotionally available adult, these books can become a tool for connection and communication. These stories, among others, can be a way to weave difficult experiences into narratives of belonging. 💛

No Matter What by Josh Shipp
The Family Fairies by Rosemary Lucas
Maybe Days by Jennifer Wilgocki
Tippy Moffle's Mirro by Mikenda Plant
Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
And Tango makes Three by Justin Richardson
Eddy Finds a Family by Sarah McGeough
The Blanket Bears by Samuel Langley-Swain
The Most Precious Present in the World by Becky Edwards
My Parents Picked Me! by Pat Thomas
Delly Duck by Holly Marlow & Suzy Garland
Nutmeg Gets Adopted by Judith Foxon
The Boy who Built a Wall around Himself by Ali Redford
A Safe Place for Rufus by Jill Seeney

What books have you found helpful in sparking these conversations? Let us know in the comments to share with the TISC community! 📚

We are proud to celebrate their achievement as the first secondary school in Wales to be awarded for Trauma Informed Practices! ✨

Through a culture of care, safe spaces like Noddfa, strong pupil-staff relationships, and a deep commitment to wellbeing, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni has shown how education can truly be both heart and mind. 💛

Assessor Report:
"Pupils feel happy, supported, and that school is inclusive; ‘like a community’. One older pupil said that the school is, ‘well-managed, it feels like shelter’. The school is led by a passionate, caring and inclusive senior leadership team… Positive relationships exist between the adults and pupils, that are consistent and embody PACE. The willingness and supportive nature of the staff team to implement trauma informed approaches… is clearly evident.”

This is such an exciting step for the Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni and it's wider community; we're so pleased for you that you're hard-work and dedication to creating such a delightful culture of support and wellbeing for all.

ôn ôn

Sometimes it’s hard to articulate how we really feel; this can be especially the case for children and young people carrying complex emotions. That’s where metaphor check-ins can help.

Asking questions like “If you were a type of weather today, what would you be?” 🌦️ can appear to be just a bit of fun but by using metaphors, we give safe distance, allowing feelings to be named gently, with room for creativity and depth.

Most importantly? They communicate: “Your inner world matters. I’m here to really listen about how you are.”

Every metaphor shared is really a story waiting to be heard...

CYP: "I’d be a tornado, not sure where I'm going” 🌪
Practitioner: "What I know about tornadoes is that they can spin around from one thing to the next, sometimes blitzing through important things. I imagine being a tornado can feel really chaotic and even out of control"