Luke's story

Luke* was a 10-year-old boy who caused concern because of frequent absences and lateness. The school learnt of his mother's mental health problems, including panic attacks, depression and alcohol misuse. Luke had been separated both from his sibling (who was placed in care some years earlier) and from his father, who was living out of the city with another partner and who was chronically unwell.

Luke was a very lonely child. He had few friends and did not keep himself safe outside of school. For example he became involved in fire-setting in the community and was often seen with much older teenager children. Luke was supported on a duty basis by the Children and Families Department (duty social worker) and referrals had been made to a Young Carers Project and a Befriending Project.

The Place2Be provided one-to-one counselling for Luke to give him space and positive attention. His mother was very supportive of this referral and was able to come into school twice to talk about it (after a two-year period before this when she did not once come to the school). As well as meeting with Luke's mother I also attended case meetings with the Children & Families Department and had regular contact with the Head, Deputy Head and class teacher regarding Luke's well-being.

Luke made very good use of the weekly Place2Be sessions   and his attendance and time-keeping   improved on the days he visited The Place2Be. The Place2Be Counsellor and I worked with him a little on this. After a difficult start where he missed sessions, Luke   began to arrive at school every day on time, dropping in to our office to announce that he was in. This in itself was a source of pride and increased self-esteem for him.