dear student with anxiety,

You, who sits right by a door for a swift exit

And hopes that nobody will turn and look.

You need to know that you are great,

Pouring out more work than the louder ones

Who dominate every moment of the lesson,

Thinking that this world, revolves around themselves.

You need to know that letting go is hard,

But try because you’ll lose so much

If you let these precious days slip by.

Those boisterous boys are all just mouth

And one day you’ll look back and see

That strength right now, when stakes are low

Will only serve you well wherever you may go.

I want to keep you safe, and I will

Within my classroom walls. I can’t promise

What will happen further out from here,

But do try to go with that terrifying flow.

Dear student with anxiety,

You really are quite brilliant

I just thought you ought to know.

I have a lovely student in a class that are really quite naughty ones. She is so anxious that she can’t get in the room most of the time and the other kids really don’t make it any easier for her.

It makes me so mad that those kids are quite cruel to her, when she is just the loveliest kid. She sat outside and listened to my lesson through a window and she still did more work than most of the others.

I just hope that one day she can see just how brilliant she is. It’s heartbreaking to know that some really nasty characters can destroy a person like her.

If I had the chance to tell her what I really think, this is what I’d say.

Much Love

Rachel xx