The school day, drawn as a line

About 20 minutes, for ages 5 to 13.

The activity

Your child draws their day from gate to gate and marks where it feels heavy. You take the one moment they mark, not a conclusion, to the school.

What it is for. “I hate school” is hard to act on; “lining up after lunch” is not. Drawing the day together helps your child find the specific moment, and gives the school something to look into.

The first step. Choose a calm time well away from school: “I’d like to understand your day better. Will you draw it for me?”

Safety. The drawing may name other children or staff; do not photograph or share it.

When to get help. If your child has struggled to go to school for several weeks, their mood is flat outside school hours, or stomach aches keep coming back, talk to their school and your GP. If your child has hurt themselves, or talks about not wanting to be alive, stay calm, thank them if they have told you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day: help them ask the surgery for an urgent appointment, and if it is closed, use the routes under “If you need help right now”, at the foot of every page. If your child tells you that someone is hurting them, stay calm, thank them for telling you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day, using those routes; if the person hurting your child lives in your home or your child’s other home, go straight to children’s social care or the police. Tell the school’s designated safeguarding lead as well. If your child is badly hurt, or may have taken too much of a medicine, get medical help straight away, even if they seem well.

The other five steps, and your part in it, are in the library.

The sheet that goes with it comes with a subscription: The school day, drawn as a line.

It goes with

What to Do When School Is the Problem. For parents whose child has started dreading school.
The Move to Secondary School. For parents whose child is about to go from being one of the oldest at school to one of the youngest.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

School stress. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
Bullying. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.

The rest of the library

The Parent Book is a library written by therapists: chapters on the situations parents bring to our therapy rooms most often, quick tips for tonight, things to do together, and every sheet to print. One subscription opens all of it, from the day you join.

Subscribe to the library

£129 a year, by Direct Debit.

The Direct Debit is set up now and the first payment is taken on the next collection date. It renews each year on the anniversary of that payment. Change your mind in the first fourteen days and we refund you in full; after that, you can cancel at any time from your account page and read to the end of the year you have paid for.

Start your subscription

Already a subscriber? Sign in School staff: the teachers’ shelf

If you need help right now

If you or your child is in immediate danger: 999 · Go to your nearest A&E · 24/7.
If either you or your child is in a mental health crisis: NHS 111 · England, Scotland and Wales: call 111 and choose the mental-health option. Northern Ireland: call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 · 24/7.
If your child is under 19 and needs to talk to someone themselves: Childline · 0800 1111 · 24/7 · www.childline.org.uk.
If you are worried that a child is being harmed or is at risk: NSPCC Helpline · 0808 800 5000 · Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. · email help@nspcc.org.uk · www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/our-services/nspcc-helpline · If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101. You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you would prefer to text rather than speak: Shout · Text SHOUT to 85258 · 24/7 · giveusashout.org.
If you or someone you are worried about needs someone to talk to: Samaritans · 116 123 · 24/7 · www.samaritans.org.

If you need help right now

Published by Kensington Square Therapy. Company No. 16707111. Written by therapists registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). This page is not therapy, and not a substitute for professional support. The full library is at theparentbook.com.