Managing anxiety to find a sense of belonging: William improves his wellbeing and his attainment

• William had transitioned both out of lockdown and into a new school and was struggling with anxiety.
• A lack of outdoors space at school made the day feel overwhelming, and had direct effects on his attendance.
• His link worker and Head of Year put strategies in place to help William feel more comfortable when at school, giving him a chance to manage his anxieties.

William was dealing with a lot of changes when he was identified for the AllChild programme. His previous schools had been in Spain and then outside of London, and the inner city school he joined at the start of year 9 was a world away from these previous settings. Adding to the challenge was the fact that lockdown restrictions were easing and - after months of remaining at home - the secondary school environment felt incredibly overwhelming. 

‍Identifying the barriers

‍William was identified for the programme due to risk areas that were flagged through the SDQ (strengths and difficulties questionnaire) including emotional wellbeing, school engagement and confidence. His attendance was particularly low, meaning he had not been able to form trusted relationships with any adults in the school. He was also identified as having low self-esteem and problems with peer relations. 

As soon as his link worker Nadia got to know William, she could see that he was caught in a cycle whereby his anxiety would prevent him coming into school, and this absence had an impact on his academic attainment. This in turn meant that when William was in school, he found the work too difficult, increasing his anxiety levels. 

‍Focusing on attendance

‍During William’s first year on the programme, Nadia worked closely with his social worker to support him coming to school more regularly. However in the second year, his case with the Social Care team was closed meaning William no longer had a social worker assigned to him. The consistency his link worker was able to provide at that point meant that she was able to continue to highlight concerns around attendance and wellbeing to the school pastoral team, which helped the school to maintain a proactive approach to the problem. 

Nadia was also able to work quickly alongside school in the autumn term of the second year of the AllChild programme, when William did not attend school for several weeks. She realised that this situation was directly linked to his anxiety and self-esteem, and arranged a meeting with William, his parents and his Head of Year. On the day of the meeting, William and his dad arrived late and the Head of Year was no longer able to attend due to other school commitments. However William’s link worker was able to prioritise this meeting in order to find what was stopping William coming to school and whether there was something they could do to help.

‍A plan is formed

‍During the meeting, William’s dad shared that William was finding it difficult to leave the house even to socialise, and he was also struggling to sleep. Together, Nadia and William’s dad uncovered that one of the main worries William had was caused by the fact his school had no playground. He felt ‘trapped’ by knowing that once he was in school he was often unable to go outside again until the end of the day. This made him feel extremely anxious and overwhelmed - often too much so to get himself to school in the morning.

Nadia fed the outcomes of this meeting back to William’s Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher, and came up with a potential solution she suggested to them: maybe William could leave school during his lunch break to go to his parents’ local cafe. On days when he felt particularly anxious, he could stay there for the afternoon, on the condition he came to school for 9am each day. The school agreed to this proposal, and the plan for William was immediately put in place.

‍Strategies to manage the school day

‍Nadia could see that this plan started making a difference for William almost immediately. He started to be able to be in school more often, which had the added benefit of allowing time for Nadia to begin having consistent weekly time with him. In these regular sessions they focused on mindfulness and practised methods to help him manage his anxiety. These included strategies such as ‘box breathing’, ‘the body scan’, and ‘getting grounded’. Nadia also learnt more about William’s passion for art and creativity, and began planning art activities to support his wellbeing such as mindfulness painting and drawing, mug decorating and pencil case designing. 

‍Back on track

‍William’s improved attendance gave Nadia the chance to build a strong and trusted relationship with him over the course of the programme, and William became able to reflect and open up to her about his anxieties. Towards the end of the second year, William started regularly meeting friends outside of school and began pursuing an interest in filmmaking and photography, an interest he shared with Nadia in their weekly sessions. She was able to assist him in that area by showing him media and film courses in his local colleges, something he is excited to explore further in year 11.

By the end of the two-year programme, William’s attendance in school had become much more consistent, and he attended all his year 10 mock exams. This was a huge achievement for him, especially when compared to his attendance rate of below 50% when he began the programme. In their last session together, Nadia told William how proud she was of his achievements and progress. William shared that he felt ready and able to enter year 11 feeling much more confident and happy.

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*Name changed and image unrelated.