Soraya’s Story – Resilience, relationships and friends

I feel more confident and less lonely now.

Soraya struggled with her confidence, resilience and her relationships with peers in school. Following a targeted support approach that was designed between Soraya’s Link Worker and her family, she finished the Impact Programme as a bright, bubbly and brave student determined to take on life positively. 

Soraya was first identified as someone who could benefit from additional support in Year 8, when she was struggling with her emotional wellbeing and peer relationships, which affected her attendance. When Soraya was connected with her Link Worker, Katie, it became clear that she was facing persistent difficulties with friends and managing her emotions, leading to her spending most of her free time alone, physical fights, and consequent suspensions from school. 

Katie spent time listening carefully to understand Soraya’s feelings and her experiences, which allowed her to build a picture of her strengths: Soraya was creative, had a strong bond with her family, and was kind and generous with friends outside of school. 

These were used to build a tailor-made Individual Support Plan that would work alongside her to build her confidence, self-esteem and relationships. The plan involved weekly therapeutic sessions, creative workshops and 1-1 mentoring which focused on friendship building. One of the most impactful sessions were with Katie who, in her role as a trusted adult, offered a safe space for Soraya to explore her feelings, allowing her to participate more positively in group sessions. 

Her progress was obvious during a woodwork session, when two peers mentioned a previous fight. Although upset, Soraya calmly asked to step outside and spoke with Katie, clearly expressing and identifying her emotions and what she needed. With reassurance, she chose to return to the session and engaged well. While seemingly small, this moment represented a significant shift from how she might have responded previously – not only remaining calm but returning to an uncomfortable situation rather than withdrawing. 

Two years on, as she prepares for her GCSEs, Soraya’s school experience has transformed. She now has strong friendships both inside and outside of school and can confidently identify her own boundaries and needs. She has even met one of her closest friends through AllChild, who she spends her breaktimes with. 

Soraya is now ready and willing to engage positively with her peers and her learning, allowing her to flourish in her school and community as she progresses through her GCSEs and beyond. In their final session, she reflected that she feels “more confident and less lonely”.