The first days back at school can bring up a lot of emotions in children. For many, a new term means getting used to different routines, new expectations and the rhythms of the new school year. For a child affected by domestic abuse, it can mean something more important: a return to safe adults, predictable moments and the possibility of support. Some children may arrive at school carrying fear from home. They may not have the words to explain, and they may not feel safe enough to tell anyone. School cannot change what a child is experiencing at home, but it can offer an environment that feels steadier, adults who know how to respond, and a place where support can begin.
“Sometimes support begins with a trusted adult who notices, listens and responds with care.”
At EdShift, we help make that support safer, clearer and more child-centred. Through BraveBox and our CPD Safety Planning Training we provide practical resources for children who need reassurance, coping tools and a sense of safety, while helping teachers, teaching assistants and school staff respond with care, confidence and sensitivity.
Routine, trust and familiar adults: helping children feel safer at school
When home life feels unpredictable, children may have had to learn to stay alert, listening for changes in tone, watching the mood in a room, or trying to anticipate what might happen next. A school day can offer a different kind of experience. A familiar classroom, a calm adult and a clear shape to the day can all help reduce the number of unknowns a child has to manage. That does not remove fear or make difficult experiences disappear, but it can make the day feel steadier. Earlier this summer, we explored what can happen when that school safety net loosens during the long break, and why familiar routines and trusted adults can be so important for children affected by domestic abuse.
Children do not always talk about what is happening at home. Speaking may feel frightening or unsafe. They may worry about consequences, blame, or whether they will be believed. That is why safe adults matter. A teacher, teaching assistant, or safeguarding lead can become someone a child learns to trust. Support can begin slowly, with a warm greeting, a gentle check-in, or an adult who notices a change. EdShift’s CPD Safety Planning Training helps teachers, teaching assistants, and safeguarding leads respond more confidently to children affected by domestic abuse. It supports age-appropriate conversations around emotional safety, physical safety, coping strategies and trusted support. For schools, this can help turn concern into careful action. It gives staff practical tools and language to respond with compassion and clarity, without waiting for a child to disclose everything first.
Safeguarding with care: recognising signs and knowing what to do next
Schools and colleges have legal duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, set out in the Department for Education’s Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. Those duties are essential. But safeguarding should never feel like a child being placed under a spotlight. At its best, it is careful, proportionate and human. For school staff, this means noticing changes, taking concerns seriously and following the right safeguarding routes. NSPCC Learning’s guidance on protecting children from domestic abuse is a useful resource for professionals who want to better understand the signs and respond safely. The right information, shared safely, can help adults respond with patience and care.
A child who struggles to concentrate, arrives unsettled, or finds transitions difficult may need extra support. Children should not have to repeat, prove or perform their distress before adults offer help. Safeguarding helps adults know when to act. But children may also need practical, trauma-informed tools that help them express what they are carrying, understand who they can go to, and begin to feel safer in the moment.
BraveBox in schools: Practical tools for child-centred support
BraveBox gives children practical safety and wellbeing tools they can hold, use and return to when things feel difficult. It is designed to offer reassurance, coping strategies and a gentle way into trusted adult conversations. A BraveBox may include safety information, affirmation cards, messages of hope and a safety planning booklet to use with a trusted professional. These resources can help children talk about worries, recognise feelings and understand who they can go to for help. For teachers, teaching assistants, safeguarding leads and other trusted adults, BraveBox offers a child-centred way to begin sensitive conversations. Used alongside the right training, it can help adults respond with care and clarity without asking children to explain everything before they are ready.
For some children, the first days back at school may be the first time in weeks that life feels a little more predictable. It does not remove what has happened at home, but it can provide a moment where the right adult notices, the right question can be asked, and where support can begin. EdShift helps make it more likely that children are met by adults who notice, understand and know how to respond. Through BraveBox, CPD Safety Planning Training and our wider creative support, we help children affected by domestic abuse feel safer, more connected and more able to ask for help.
And with the support of schools, donors, volunteers and partners, we can keep making sure children have practical tools, trusted adults and safe spaces when they need them most.