Eight-year-old Charlotte was struggling to settle into her new school and make friends. Seeing a school counsellor helped to bring back her confidence and taught her coping skills. Her mum tells her story.

After moving to a new school in a new area, my eight-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was really struggling to settle in. She would cry when I had to leave her in the morning; she tried to walk out of school, and was struggling to make friends.

This also affected her school work - she went from being a really confident, happy child to being quite insecure about her ability, and generally disinterested in anything school related.

Charlotte’s worries and disinterest in school really worried me. Although she was on target and reaching her milestones, I felt she needed some emotional support to help her cope with the changes in her life, especially changes at home as her father and I had separated.

She was referred to a Place2Be counsellor to receive one-to-one support, and very quickly I began to notice a real change in my daughter. She seemed so much happier and engaged with her school work. She also made some positive friendships, which put my mind at ease because I knew she was a sociable child.

When I asked Charlotte if she’d like to tell me about her sessions, she said, “it’s my business” with a smile, and I knew then that the sessions were meeting her emotional needs.

Charlotte was upset when she heard that the sessions were coming to an end, so the School Project Manager and myself spoke to her to reassure her. She was very proud to bring home her box filled with the art she had made in the sessions.

The School Project Manager also talked through the process with me and said that I could contact him about Charlotte at any point, even though her sessions had come to an end.

I have since become a parent governor at my daughter’s school and I am committed to making sure that other children who need emotional support, for whatever reason, are able to get that in the school through Place2Be. It certainly worked for my daughter and our family as a whole.

Names in case studies may be changed to protect the identities of families and children. Photos used are for representative purposes only.