This School Worries and My Brain resource is a free printable PDF poster that helps children, kids, and young people understand what happens in their brain when they feel anxious about school. It explains school anxiety in a clear, child-friendly way, using simple language and visuals to show how worry affects thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and decision making.
The poster introduces the idea of a brain alarm, worry brain, and thinking brain. It explains how, when a child feels scared or unsafe at school, their brain switches into protection mode. This can lead to fight, flight, freeze, or angry responses, difficulty listening or thinking, and behaviour the child may later regret. It also shows how worry can sit at a lower level, where a child feels uneasy, expects something bad to happen, and needs adult support to slow their thoughts down. The green zone explains what it feels like when the thinking brain is working and the child feels calm enough to learn, cope, and ask for help.
This resource supports children and young people who experience school anxiety, school worries, school avoidance, or school refusal. It is especially useful for children who struggle with emotional regulation, anxiety, or overwhelming feelings linked to school environments. It can also support neurodivergent children, including those with ASD or ADHD, who may experience heightened stress or threat responses at school.
The poster is helpful for parents, carers, foster carers, adoptive parents, teachers, teaching assistants, social workers, and other professionals working with children and families. It can be used at home, in schools, or in therapeutic and support settings to start conversations, build emotional understanding, and reduce shame around anxiety and behaviour linked to school stress.
The resource is designed as a visual support and psychoeducation tool. It does not include worksheets or activities but works well alongside emotional wellbeing work, anxiety support, and behaviour support plans.
