Children can use the daily prompts to notice when school worry first appears and practise one manageable coping step at a time. 30 Days with Riley is a child-friendly CBT-based school anxiety workbook that supports pupils who feel anxious, distressed or reluctant about attending school.
Parents, carers, school staff, counsellors and therapists supporting primary-aged children with school anxiety are the best fit for this 30-day workbook. It uses Riley, a red panda character, to make difficult feelings easier for kids to recognise, including tummy aches, racing heart, nausea, tears, anger, repeated reassurance-seeking and the urge not to go to school.
The workbook takes a gradual, practical approach rather than expecting a child to get rid of worry before they can cope. Its central message is that a child can feel worried and still work out what to do next. Each day is intended to offer a small activity, with later days beginning by looking back at what was tried previously.
Topics introduced include understanding a child’s individual school worries, identifying what makes anxiety louder, calming the body, managing worried thoughts, easing mornings, travelling to school, saying goodbye at the school gate, asking for help, coping during a difficult school day and recovering after school. It also explores taking small steps towards situations that feel hard.
Day 1 focuses on spotting the earliest point that school starts to feel difficult. Children circle options ranging from the night before and getting dressed through to lessons, break and lunchtime, then complete the prompt, “The first moment I usually notice school feeling hard is”. It can be printed for home use, pastoral support, school counselling sessions or a gentle parent-child conversation.
