Supporter Newsletter – April 2024
Anne-Marie conquers her fears
Anne-Marie is a little girl who is just eight years old. Anne-Marie wouldn’t go anywhere without her mam Lucy. Not even school. When she was at school, she would say she was sick so she would be able to go home. She wouldn’t go on play dates with other children unless her mam stayed with her.
Because of this anxiety, she was referred to Barnardos for support.
With her Barnardos project worker Leah, Anne-Marie is learning to face her fears. It turned out that Anne-Marie was afraid her mam wouldn’t come back to pick her up and she would be left all alone. They used techniques like breathing and meditation and Leah is giving Anne-Marie age-appropriate advice on conquering her fears.
Little by little, Anne-Marie has been making such great progress. Her mam Lucy can now see a real difference in her little girl. Anne-Marie has recently joined a sports team where she goes training every week; Lucy is able to drop her off and pick her up without any drama or tears – Anne-Marie is so delighted to go spend time with her friends! She even went on a sleepover recently and spent a couple of days without Mam. When Lucy picked her up Anne-Marie had a beaming smile and gave her a big hug, then told her all about the fun she had!
Roots of Empathy – how babies are helping children learn empathy!
8-year-old Emily was finding it hard to make friends in school and didn’t look forward to break time – she always ended up on her own.
One day, 4 month old baby Niamh came into her class with Niamh’s Mam. The class spent the next few weeks watching how baby Niamh grew and, with the help of their Roots of Empathy instructor Mary, started labelling baby Niamh’s feelings. Baby Niamh was the Tiny Teacher in the classroom, helping the children learn about empathy.
One day when baby Niamh was a little upset, Mary asked the children if there are ever times when they’re upset, just like baby Niamh? Emily told the class she often feels upset in school because she’s lonely. She said she didn’t have any friends and shared that going to a birthday party was her one big wish.
A few weeks later, Emily had been invited to three birthday parties by her classmates! She started to make new friends and looked forward to break time.
Through the Roots of Empathy programme delivered by Barnardos, the children were learning about empathy – how another person feels. Children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others.
Volunteer instructors are really important to the programme – they deliver all aspects of the curriculum with a primary school class and build respectful relationships with the parent and baby, classroom teacher and students.
Instructors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and receive 3 days training in advance, as well as support from our team throughout the school year. Find out how to get involved here.
Or if you or someone you know, is due a baby in May, June or July, they might be interested in taking part as the parent and baby in the classroom!