Strongly-Worded Letter
I had a girl miss several lessons last term. I was concerned about her progress in class and followed up on the absences. The next time I saw her, we had a wee little chat, and she told me that she was really struggling with home stuff. The following day, she appeared very early with a letter and asked me to read it after she left.
The letter stated that she was unable to tell her story out loud, but that she wanted me to know. Her story detailed a difficult home situation. I have redacted the details of it out of respect for the pupil, as she had never intended for it to be shared publicly on the internet. It completely floored me. I had lessons starting in fifteen minutes, but I couldn’t stop crying.
It felt awful to know that this strong, silent young girl could brave coming to class with the weight of all this on her shoulders. So we worked out how to make school feel safer for her. She struggles to be around lots of people and near doorways without a trusted adult nearby. She’s terrified that someone from her story will appear in school to try and take her away.
So we spend our breaks and lunches in my classroom, playing games and watching silly videos on YouTube. If she has a bad day, I’ll walk her to her bus and try to cheer her up. I always make sure that she’s seated away from the door and nearby a friend or my desk. It’s not much, but every little bit helps her feel safer.