Nate is only 10 years old and he recently moved from Auckland to Taranaki with his parents.

The main reason they moved was to be closer to Nate’s grandparents who needed the kind of support which Nate’s parents couldn’t provide from a distance.

Within just two short months, both grandparents passed away leaving Nate and his parents completely devastated.

The Covid lockdowns in Auckland had caused financial hardship for Nate’s family. Then the move south meant even greater financial pressure for them. Nate’s parents tried to keep their worries from Nate, but he could tell that something was wrong, and he became increasingly anxious.

The lockdowns had also created a lot of anxiety for Nate. So much so, that he hadn’t attended school for almost two years. In addition, due to the severity of Nate’s anxiety, he’d been referred for an assessment to see whether he met the criteria for an Autism diagnosis. But the assessment was delayed, and Nate was still not attending school.

Between the changes from the move, the loss of his grandparents, the anxiety about Covid, and his possible Autism diagnosis, Nate was not coping at all. His parents were doing their best to encourage and support him to go back to school, but it had all become too much, and he couldn’t face the additional pressure of starting at a new school.

When Barnardos Social Worker, Claire*, met with Nate and his parents she began to help Nate to find a way to navigate through his worries.

She started with Nate’s concerns about going to school. Initially he was adamant he couldn’t face a new school and all its challenges. But through support and conversation Nate finally agreed to have a look around his new school and meet his new teacher. Nate discovered he really liked the teacher who, in turn, helped to get him excited about being in her class. Nate decided that maybe school was a good place for him but wanted to talk through what was on his mind first.

Nate was asked what he thought would make things easier for him to attend school every day. Nate and his parents agreed on some positive reinforcement, small rewards for every day he went to school and some for every complete week he attended school.

Nate talked about how he becomes overwhelmed with lots of people around him and lots of noise. With his new teacher’s help, they created a special quiet space in the classroom where he could go when he needed some alone time.

Nate opened up about other anxieties, about how he was scared of bad weather and cloudy days made him really anxious. Claire worked with Nate to learn about the different types of clouds and what sort of weather each type of cloud might indicate. Together they made a small cloud frame in which Nate could look through the plastic film in the middle to identify the clouds and use the labels around the outside to classify the different clouds by name and potential weather conditions. Claire also applied for funding for a barometer to help Nate prepare himself for what could potentially happen with changes in the weather.

Nate initially missed several days of school. Often, Nate’s “sickness” coincided when there was a class trip or sports day. Claire worked with Nate to understand his emotions around these social events and how he could manage these. Now Nate is going to school regularly.

Nate also learnt to cope with changes when there was a change in teacher and his teacher aide and because of this he has developed some new skills to manage other life changes that come his way.

Nate is now participating in school cross country practise and is loving it! Cross country is not something he or his parents thought he would ever do, let alone have fun doing.

Nate is also working with Claire on the transition from primary school to intermediate.

It’s been an incredibly challenging year for Nate. There have been a lot of difficult changes for him to learn to cope with. And it was only with support from Claire, his teachers, and his parents, that Nate could learn a lot of new skills, coping strategies, and become more confident.

Ater a year of working with Claire, Nate now loves his new school and enjoys many of the social aspects that school brings. He is more confident, he worries less, and is now setting goals for new things he wants to try.

Because of your support, Nate found the support he needed, and for as long as he needed it. Your support meant that Nate received specific and practical help to assist him with the challenges he was facing. Thank you for becoming a Children’s Champion to help more children like Nate.

*To protect client’s privacy, names have been changed and models used

It’s been an incredibly challenging year for Nate

Will you be there?