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🌿 LONG COVID IN WELSH CHILDREN — PART 1 March

🌿 LONG COVID IN WELSH CHILDREN — PART 1

How Long Covid affects daily life, school attendance and your childs rights in Wales

A Learn Without Limits CIC Guide

Across Wales more and more parents are telling us the same story.
Their child caught Covid a long time ago but has never fully recovered.
Some days they manage a lesson or two, other days they crash completely. Many children look fine one moment and then are wiped out the next.

Despite this, many families feel they are not being believed or understood.
Some are told their child is anxious.
Some are told the problem is attendance.
Others feel dismissed entirely.

This guide aims to give you clear and confident guidance based on the system in Wales so that you can support your child without doubt or hesitation.

This is Part 1.
Part 2 will look at health services, referrals, mental health, tuition, social care and practical steps you can take straight away.

1. What Long Covid is in children

Long Covid describes symptoms that continue for many weeks or months after a Covid infection. It is recognised in children and young people. Symptoms can be physical, emotional or cognitive and they often fluctuate. A child can appear well one moment and then deteriorate quickly after school, exercise or even brief concentration.

Long Covid is not school refusal.
It is not a lack of resilience.
It is not a behaviour issue.
It is a genuine health condition that requires understanding, patience and a clear plan.

2. How many children in Wales are affected

At the moment Wales does not publish child specific Long Covid figures. This lack of official data is becoming a problem because families often assume the issue is rare when the truth is that Wales has simply not counted children separately.

Here is what we do know.

Public Health Wales has reported that around ninety six thousand people in Wales have experienced ongoing symptoms after a Covid infection. That is about three percent of the population.
(See Source 1)

The Office for National Statistics reports that among children who tested positive for Covid:
• around one in ten children aged two to eleven
• around thirteen percent of young people aged twelve to sixteen
still had symptoms at five weeks after infection.
(See Source 2)

Meta studies suggest that between eight and twenty percent of children experience ongoing symptoms after infection, depending on the definition used.
These symptoms often include fatigue, pain and cognitive difficulty.
(See Source 3)

So even though Wales does not currently publish child specific figures, the wider United Kingdom evidence makes it clear that many children are affected.

3. Can children be affected for years and can Long Covid cause disability

Parents ask this often because their child does not recover within the timeframes they were originally told.

3.1 Can Long Covid last for years

Yes.
Research shows that some children remain unwell for many months or years after infection.
Symptoms may come and go or remain steady over long periods of time.
(See Source 3)

3.2 Can Long Covid cause disability

Yes.
The United Kingdom Covid Inquiry has acknowledged that Long Covid can cause long term activity limiting illness in children and young people.
This includes fatigue, cognitive difficulty and reduced ability to take part in normal daily life.
(See Source 4)

In Wales, a long term health condition that limits daily life can meet the definition of disability. This means families may have important rights in education and social care.

4. What Long Covid looks like day to day

No two children are identical, but research and lived experience show clear patterns.

4.1 Physical symptoms

• severe and persistent fatigue
• shortness of breath
• headaches and muscle pain
• dizziness or difficulty standing
• relapse after small amounts of activity, known as post exertional symptom exacerbation
(See Source 3)

4.2 Cognitive impact

• difficulty concentrating
• slower processing
• reduced short term memory
• sensory overload
• trouble keeping up in lessons
(See Source 3)

4.3 Emotional and social impact

Children may feel anxious, frustrated or sad because they cannot keep up with friends or school.
Many lose confidence after repeated periods of illness or absence.
(See Source 3)

If this describes your child, you are not imagining it. These difficulties are widely reported in research and in families across Wales.

5. Why school becomes difficult and why it is often misunderstood

5.1 School requires sustained energy

Schools involve constant movement, concentration, noise and transitions.
A child with Long Covid may manage a short period but then crash for the rest of the day.
Some appear fine in school but collapse the moment they get home.

5.2 Misinterpretation of absence

The Covid Inquiry reports that children with Long Covid can experience long term limitations that affect attendance. These limitations are sometimes misunderstood by schools and attendance teams.
(See Source 4)

5.3 What schools should do

Schools should medically authorise absence where a child has a recognised health condition.
They should adapt expectations, provide rest breaks and work collaboratively with families.

Attendance pressure does not improve a health condition. In many cases it makes symptoms worse.

Internal link placeholder: Attendance guidance for families in Wales

6. Reduced timetables and flexi schooling

Parents often hear two terms and do not always know the difference.
Here is the clearest explanation.

6.1 Reduced timetables

A reduced timetable means the child attends school for fewer hours or fewer subjects.
It is intended to be a short term plan to support recovery.
It must be reviewed often.
https://learnwithoutlimitscic.blogspot.com/2025/12/reduced-timetables-in-wales-parent-guide.html

6.2 Some schools call reduced timetables flexi schooling

This creates confusion.
If a school tells you they are offering flexi schooling, sometimes they actually mean a reduced timetable.
These two arrangements are very different.

6.3 What flexi schooling actually is

Flexi schooling is a formal agreement between the school and the parent which allows part of the education to take place at home.
This can work well for children with Long Covid because it builds in rest days and pacing.https://learnwithoutlimitscic.blogspot.com/2025/12/flexi-schooling-in-wales-complete-guide.html

7. When Long Covid meets the definition of Additional Learning Needs

Under the Additional Learning Needs system, a child has ALN when they need support that is additional to or different from what is normally available.

Children with Long Covid often need:

• shorter school days
• supervised rest breaks
• adapted or chunked learning tasks
• reduced sensory load
• extra processing time
• planned rest periods
• home learning options
• coordinated support between health and education

7.1 What this means

Your child may be entitled to an Individual Development Plan known as an IDP.
An IDP can record the adjustments that your child needs in a clear legal document.

7.2 School IDPs and Local Authority IDPs

Some children will require a Local Authority IDP when the school cannot meet their needs alone.
This is often relevant for fluctuating or complex health conditions.

Internal link placeholder: How to request an IDP in Wales
Internal link placeholder: School versus LA IDPs

8. When education at school is not possible

Wales has a legal duty to provide suitable education for children who cannot attend school for medical reasons.

The Children Commissioner for Wales has raised concerns that some children receiving home tuition receive too few hours and that provision is not always suitable.
(See Source 5)

Education Other Than At School known as EOTAS can include home tuition, online learning or a blended arrangement.
The key point is that the education must meet the childs needs, not simply offer minimal contact.

Internal link placeholder: Understanding EOTAS in Wales

9. What comes next in Part 2

Part 2 will look at:

• paediatric Long Covid services
• mental health support
• how to request referrals
• what to do when systems are slow
• home tuition and hospital teaching
• social care rights
• how to request a child needs assessment
• template letters and ready made scripts
• a directory of trusted organisations

You deserve guidance that is calm, practical and rooted in Welsh law.
Part 2 will help you take confident steps forward.

Sources

Public Health Wales. Long Covid surveillance data.
Office for National Statistics. Coronavirus Infection Survey findings for children.
Paediatric Long Covid meta analyses and symptom reviews.
United Kingdom Covid Inquiry. Evidence pack on education and childrens social care.
Children Commissioner for Wales. Education in Healthcare Settings Report.

🌿 LONG COVID IN WELSH CHILDREN — PART 2 March

🌿 LONG COVID IN WELSH CHILDREN — PART 2

Health services, exam adjustments, attendance support, tuition, social care and practical steps for families in Wales

A Learn Without Limits CIC Guide

Part 1 explored how Long Covid affects children and why school becomes difficult.
This second guide takes you through the systems that support your child.
Families often face slow referrals, confusing attendance messages, uncertainty around exams and a lack of clarity about their rights.

You deserve clear guidance that fits the Welsh system.
This guide provides it.

1. Health services for children with Long Covid in Wales

There is no single national paediatric Long Covid clinic. Provision varies across health boards. Some have structured pathways while others rely on general paediatric care.

1.1 What currently exists in Wales

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Provides the Paediatric Recovering from Illness Service, supporting children with persistent symptoms including fatigue and Long Covid. The team includes paediatric psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and rehabilitation support.
(See Source 1)

Swansea Bay University Health Board
Provides a recovery and rehabilitation pathway for people affected by Long Covid, including children referred for fatigue and pacing support.
(See Source 2)

All Wales Covid Recovery App
A bilingual digital tool developed by clinical teams to support fatigue management, pacing, breathing and emotional wellbeing.
(See Source 3)

1.2 When to request referral

Request referral if symptoms:

• last beyond four to eight weeks
• affect your childs school attendance
• flare after activity
• affect learning or emotional wellbeing

Ask for all information to be recorded in your childs notes.

2. Mental health support

Children with Long Covid often experience emotional strain such as anxiety, sadness, frustration or loss of confidence.
This is common and supported by research.
(See Source 4)

You can access support through:

• paediatric psychology
• GP linked mental health practitioners
• counselling through school
• youth counselling services
• the All Wales Covid Recovery App mental wellbeing tools

Internal link placeholder: Mental health guidance for ALN families

3. Exam access arrangements for children with Long Covid

A clear explanation plus the legal context

Many children with Long Covid struggle with fatigue, cognitive overload, slower processing and symptom flare during cognitive effort.
This can make exams extremely challenging without adjustments.

Under JCQ regulations, any learner who experiences a substantial disadvantage in exams compared to their peers is entitled to Access Arrangements.
(See Source 6)

3.1 Common adjustments for Long Covid

• supervised rest breaks
• extra time
• use of a word processor
• separate room
• modified paper format
• smaller chunks of assessment
• permission to pause and recover
• more than one exam session in a day avoided where possible

Rest breaks are especially important because they allow recovery time without penalty.

3.2 The legal context in simple terms

JCQ regulations make it clear that:

• adjustments must reflect the learners normal way of working
• rest breaks do not require formal application (schools or exam centres can grant them directly)
• adjustments must be evidence based
• health conditions count as a valid need if they affect stamina, processing, memory, pain or concentration
(See Source 6)

3.3 Who arranges exam adjustments if the child is not in school

This is where many parents feel confused.
Here is the clear rule:

⭐ The exam centre is always responsible for arranging exam access arrangements.

Not the tutor.
Not the LA team.
Not the GP.
Not the EOTAS teacher.

Every child must be registered with an exam centre. That centre handles the JCQ paperwork and approves the adjustments.

3.4 Who the exam centre is in each situation

If your child is still on roll at a school (even if flexi schooling):
The school is the exam centre.
They must arrange exam access arrangements.

If your child is EOTAS:
The local authority must attach the child to an exam centre, usually:
• the previous school
• a PRU
• an EOTAS centre
• another school willing to accept candidates
• or a designated exam centre for medical needs

The LA is legally responsible for ensuring this is done because the child is still entitled to suitable education under the Education Act.
(See Source 5)

If your child is home educated:
The parent chooses the exam centre.
The chosen private exam centre reviews the evidence and arranges adjustments.

3.5 Evidence accepted by exam centres

• GP letter
• paediatric letter
• records of symptoms affecting stamina or concentration
• school or tutor observations
• record of relapses after cognitive activity
• any formal ALN or medical documentation

4. School attendance guidance for children with Long Covid

Families often receive mixed messages.
Some are told to push attendance.
Others feel pressured by attendance letters.
Some children are incorrectly labelled anxious.

4.1 Absence should be medically authorised

A child with a recognised health condition should not be marked as unauthorised when they are unwell.
Schools must record health evidence appropriately.

4.2 Attendance pressure can worsen symptoms

The Covid Inquiry confirms that Long Covid can cause long term activity limiting illness.
Pushing attendance can trigger relapse.
(See Source 4)

4.3 What supportive attendance practice looks like

• reduced timetable as a short term support
• planned rest breaks
• flexible starts
• remote learning options
• reduced sensory load
• supportive communication rather than pressure

4.4 What attendance teams must not do

Attendance teams must not:

• threaten fines for illness
• accuse the child of avoidance
• pressure families contrary to medical evidence
• ignore clinical information

Internal link placeholder: Attendance guidance for families

5. How to evidence medical need for schools and LAs

Provide:

• GP or paediatric letter
• notes showing daily impact
• evidence of symptom flare after activity
• record of fatigue patterns
• your own parent impact statement
• any ALN assessments

Schools and local authorities must consider this when planning provision.

6. Home tuition for medical needs

When a child cannot attend school for medical reasons, the local authority has a legal duty under the Education Act to provide suitable education.

6.1 What suitable tuition should include

• enough hours to maintain progress
• curriculum aligned teaching
• regular review
• coordination with health advice
• not merely token education

The Children Commissioner for Wales has raised concerns about inconsistent provision.
(See Source 5)

6.2 What to request

• clear plan for hours
• timeline for start
• mode of delivery
• link with ALN support
• regular review meetings

Internal link placeholder: Home tuition guidance - EOTAS series?

7. Hospital tuition in Wales

Hospital tuition helps children with significant medical needs continue learning during treatment.

Learning may take place:

• on the ward
• in a hospital learning room
• through personalised plans for outpatient care

Ask your health board for details if your child spends time in hospital.

8. Social care support for disabled children

Long Covid can meet the definition of disability when symptoms significantly limit daily life.

Under the Social Services and Wellbeing Wales Act you can request a Child Needs Assessment.

This can provide:

• short breaks
• equipment
• transport support
• care support
• help with routines
• support for siblings
• emotional and practical support

Internal link placeholder: Child Needs Assessment guidance

9. Scripts for parents

Script for GP or paediatrician

My child has ongoing symptoms that began after Covid. These symptoms limit daily life and school attendance. Please record this and advise on referral to paediatric and therapy services.

Script for school

My child has a recognised health condition that affects stamina and concentration. They need flexible adjustments. Please ensure all absence is medically authorised.

Script for the local authority

My child cannot attend school for medical reasons. Under the Education Act they are entitled to suitable education. Please confirm the interim tuition plan and weekly hours.

10. Directory of trusted organisations (with clickable links)

These links will remain clickable in Blogger.

Long Covid Kids UK
Support for parents, resources, advocacy.
https://www.longcovidkids.org

Long Covid Kids Wales Community Groups
Welsh peer support for families.
https://www.longcovidkids.org/support-wales

Long Covid Wales
Support, campaigning and signposting for people in Wales.
https://www.longcovidwales.org

All Wales Covid Recovery App
Fatigue, breathing, pacing and wellbeing guidance.
https://www.covidrecoveryapp.wales

11. Closing words

Long Covid can leave families feeling exhausted, unheard and isolated.
But your child has rights.
Your child has options.
And you now have the knowledge to advocate confidently.

Learn Without Limits CIC stands with you.

You are not alone.

Sources

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Recovering from Illness Paediatric Service.
Swansea Bay University Health Board. Long Covid Rehabilitation Pathway.
All Wales Covid Recovery App.
UK Covid Inquiry. Evidence on Long Covid and children.
Children Commissioner for Wales. Education in Healthcare Settings Report.
JCQ Access Arrangements Guidance.

Extreme Rigidity of Thinking in Autistic Children

The Presentation Nobody Gave Parents Tools For

1. Why This Article Exists

This article exists because many parents and practitioners recognise a pattern that has never quite been named.

It shows up when well-intentioned approaches fail repeatedly. When behaviour plans do not help. When anxiety frameworks only partially explain what is happening. When autonomy-led or low-demand approaches bring relief, but not progress.

Families often sense that something specific is going on, something about how their child thinks under pressure, yet struggle to find language for it. Practitioners may recognise the same mismatch, but lack a shared framework that sits comfortably within existing systems.

This article does not propose a new diagnosis or intervention. It simply describes a cognitive presentation that has frequently gone unnamed, despite being quietly familiar to many.

2. What We Mean by Rigidity of Thinking

When we use the phrase rigidity of thinking, we are not describing a personality trait, a behavioural choice, or a refusal to engage. We are describing a cognitive presentation, a way in which thinking becomes fixed, narrow, or locked under certain conditions.

In this presentation, the difficulty is not primarily about what a child wants or whether they are motivated. It is about how their thinking processes respond when demands, expectations, or interpretations shift.

At its core, rigidity of thinking involves:

difficulty holding more than one interpretation at a time
difficulty revising an internal rule once it feels established
difficulty moving between mental frames, even when the child understands the change intellectually
a sharp reduction in cognitive flexibility under stress, pressure, or uncertainty

When thinking becomes locked in this way, reasoning does not gradually bend or adapt. Instead, it can collapse abruptly. The child may become distressed, stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to move forward, even when the next step is simple, desired, or previously manageable.

This is not behaviour

One of the reasons this presentation is so often misunderstood is that its outward signs look behavioural.

Adults may observe refusal, repetition, shutdown, escalation, or what appears to be an overreaction. But these responses are downstream effects, not the cause.

In rigidity of thinking, distress arises because the child cannot shift their thinking in that moment, not because they are unwilling, oppositional, or seeking control. Attempts to persuade, incentivise, or correct often fail, not because the child does not understand, but because their thinking has become temporarily immovable.

Why stress makes it worse

Cognitive flexibility is one of the first things to reduce under stress. For children with this presentation, even modest pressure can dramatically narrow thinking capacity.

Time pressure, emotional intensity, unexpected change, being observed, or repeated attempts to push through can all make rigidity more pronounced. From the outside, it can appear as though the child is escalating because adults are involved. Internally, the opposite is often true. The child is escalating because their thinking options have disappeared.

A clarification: this is not PDA

It is important to be clear that the presentation described here is not Pathological Demand Avoidance, often shortened to PDA.

PDA is generally understood as being driven by anxiety linked to perceived loss of autonomy, with avoidance that is relational and sensitive to how demands are presented.

In rigidity of thinking, distress is not primarily about autonomy or control. It arises from difficulty shifting mental rules or interpretations, particularly under load. The child may want to comply, agree, or move on, but cannot do so cognitively in that moment.

The two presentations can look similar from the outside, which is why they are often conflated. Clarifying the difference is not about taking anything away from PDA. It is about recognising that when PDA informed approaches do not help, it does not mean nothing else is going on.

3. How This Presentation Commonly Shows Up

Children with this presentation are often described as bright, articulate, and deeply thoughtful, until something changes.

Common patterns include:

becoming stuck on a rule or expectation that no longer applies
distress when plans shift, even slightly
difficulty restarting after interruption
escalation when asked to just try or think differently
appearing calm until a sudden and intense collapse

These patterns are not consistent across all settings or times, which can make them harder to recognise. They are most visible under cognitive or emotional load, rather than in calm, structured contexts.

4. Why Well-Intentioned Approaches Often Fail This Profile

Most approaches offered to families and schools are well-intentioned. They are grounded in frameworks that do help many autistic children. The difficulty arises when those approaches quietly assume a level of cognitive flexibility that this presentation does not reliably have, especially under pressure.

Autonomy-led approaches can increase cognitive load. Deschooling or low-demand environments may reduce distress, but they can also allow rigid internal rules to become entrenched. Exposure-based approaches can feel like repeated failure if the thinking process itself has not shifted. Incentives and consequences assume choice where there is cognitive immobility. Emotional reassurance alone may validate feelings without unlocking thinking.

None of these approaches is wrong. But for this presentation, pressure narrows thinking, repetition entrenches it, and escalation closes the door to flexibility.

5. The Cost of Misunderstanding Rigidity

When rigidity of thinking is misunderstood, the consequences are rarely immediate or dramatic. Instead, they accumulate quietly.

For children, repeated mismatch between need and response can lead to shame, anxiety, withdrawal, and loss of confidence. For families, it can erode trust and fuel self-doubt. For schools and services, it can lead to escalating strategies that feel increasingly ineffective.

At a systems level, time and resources are spent cycling through behaviour plans, anxiety pathways, attendance interventions, and placement changes. None of these addresses the cognitive bottleneck at the centre of the presentation.

The highest cost is often the quiet one. Children who might have thrived with the right scaffolding instead learn to mask, disengage, or shut down.

6. What Actually Helped, In Principle

What helped was not a programme, technique, or strategy, but a shift in conditions.

Consistent scaffolding before flexibility

Predictable routines, reliable expectations, and consistent structure provided the emotional safety this presentation needed before flexibility could begin to emerge. Structure acted as scaffolding, not control.

Change was introduced gradually and intentionally, at a pace set by the child. Some children required very high levels of predictability. Others needed less. The key was reading need from the child, not from a timetable.

Space, not persuasion, during overwhelm

When a child became overwhelmed, the most helpful response was often space.

Crowding, prompting, reasoning, or trying to guide the child out of distress tended to be counterproductive. Recovery was allowed to happen in a quiet, low-stimulus environment, without urgency. Only once thinking had unlocked again could reflection or learning take place.

Together, these principles reduced thinking load and allowed flexibility to be practised, rather than demanded.

7. Why This Presentation Went Largely Unnamed

This presentation sits between frameworks. It is not behaviour in the conventional sense, not anxiety alone, and not easily measured. Training prioritises what is visible and assessable. Behavioural language filled the gap where cognitive language was missing.

Parents often recognised the pattern first, but lacked the authority to legitimise it. Systems under pressure tended to fit children into existing pathways rather than question the pathway itself.

As families and practitioners quietly compare notes, the pattern has become harder to ignore. Naming it does not solve everything, but it changes the starting point.

8. What This Means for Parents, Schools, and Services

For parents, this understanding can reduce self-blame and explain why effort did not equal progress. For schools, it can interrupt cycles of escalation and reframe expectations around cognitive capacity. For services, it can legitimise professional uncertainty when standard approaches do not land.

Most importantly, it changes the question from why will they not, to what is making it hard to shift right now.

9. A Note on Limits, Roles, and Responsibility

This article does not propose a diagnosis, pathway, or intervention. It does not replace professional judgement or lived experience. It sits between roles, not above them.

Its purpose is to name a recognisable pattern so that responsibility is not misplaced and understanding can come first.

10. Why Naming the Gap Still Matters

When a presentation goes unnamed, it shapes outcomes quietly. Naming rigidity of thinking does not fix systems, but it shifts conversations from motivation to capacity, from compliance to cognition, from pressure to conditions.

For Learn Without Limits CIC, naming gaps where support falls short, without claiming ownership of the answer, is part of our values. Sometimes, naming the gap is the most responsible contribution there is.

_________________________________________________________________________________

A note to readers

Much of the research into rigidity of thinking sits in academic literature, with very little translated into accessible, practical guidance for parents or frontline practitioners.

If you have come across resources that you have genuinely found helpful in understanding or supporting rigidity of thinking in autistic children, you are welcome to share them in the comments.

Please note that comments are moderated, and any resources mentioned may be reviewed before being added to any future article. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. Our aim is to build a small, thoughtful signposting list that is useful in everyday practice.

This article is part of the official Blog publication of Learn without Limits CIC.

When Everyone Is Acting Rationally, and Children Are Still Harmed

Well-being, welfare, and unintended system effects for ALN children in Wales

What happens in complex public systems when every individual actor is behaving rationally within their role, yet the collective outcome still harms the very people the system was designed to protect?

This is not a question of intent. It is a question of system design.

In Wales, a deliberately well-being-centred legislative framework is now intersecting with new statutory mechanisms introduced through the UK Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill [1], [2]. While these mechanisms are intended to improve oversight and safeguarding, they also change how judgement, discretion, and relationships operate in practice. This has particular significance for children with Additional Learning Needs, whose educational outcomes depend heavily on stability, trust, and effective collaboration between families and professionals.

The issue is not whether children should be protected. The issue is how systems behave when pressure, process, and philosophy collide.

Rational actors and predictable system effects

In the ALN context, all key actors are responding rationally to the pressures they face.

Practitioners are managing safeguarding duties, attendance expectations, professional guidance, and increasing caseloads. Their rational response is to prioritise defensibility, compliance, and timely escalation.

Schools are balancing inclusion, safety, staffing constraints, and accountability. Their rational response is to escalate concerns when risk feels unmanaged or provision unsustainable.

Local authorities are operating under statutory duties, inspection pressure, and finite resources. Their rational response is to standardise processes, reduce variation, and evidence oversight.

Parents are responding to unmet need, distress, and exhaustion. Their rational response is to protect their child, avoid punitive pathways, and seek stability wherever possible.

None of these behaviours are unreasonable in isolation. Harm emerges when system design converts reasonable individual behaviour into collective failure.

Welfare and well-being as organising principles

To understand the current pressure point in Wales, it is important to distinguish between welfare and well-being as organising principles for children’s services.

A welfare-led system is primarily concerned with protection from harm and threshold-based intervention. Its core questions are whether a child is safe, whether statutory thresholds are met, and whether duties have been discharged. It relies on monitoring, escalation, and procedural compliance. Once minimum standards are met, the system often considers its role complete.

A well-being-led system asks broader questions about lived experience, participation, development, and long-term outcomes. It prioritises prevention, proportionality, relational working, and tolerance of complexity. Rather than asking whether a child is safe enough, it asks whether the child is able to live and learn well over time.

This is not a softer standard. It is a more demanding one.

The Welsh legislative direction

Wales has made a sustained and deliberate decision to embed well-being at the heart of children’s services. This is reflected in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 [3], the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 [4], and the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, supported by the ALN Code for Wales [5], [6].

Together, these establish a policy environment that emphasises partnership with families, professional judgement, and prevention before enforcement. Over time, this approach has shaped both professional culture and parental expectations.

Relationships as delivery infrastructure for ALN

For children with ALN, effective educational support relies on relationships. The most visible is the parent and teacher relationship, but in practice this extends to ALNCos, inclusion teams, therapists, educational psychologists, social workers, and local authority officers.

Where these relationships function well, escalation is less likely and outcomes improve. Where they fracture, outcomes deteriorate quickly. Relationships are not incidental. They are delivery infrastructure.

Welsh professional culture has historically treated partnership with families as the default unless and until clear safeguarding thresholds make this impossible, such as in cases of neglect, domestic abuse, addiction, or serious risk [11]. This has created a shared expectation that dialogue and collaboration precede enforcement.

What currently works in practice

Much of what works well for ALN children in Wales is not written explicitly into statute. It exists in professional discretion, sequencing of support, and time allowed for stabilisation.

For example, where consent is required for deregistration from special schools, current practice typically allows several weeks for planning and coordination. This enables continuity of NHS services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy to transition calmly into the home environment [6], [10]. Refusal of consent is rare and usually well justified.

This is not goodwill in a sentimental sense. It is informed professional judgement exercised close to the child.

What the new legislation changes

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces statutory Children Not in School registers, formal information duties on parents, defined procedural timeframes, and closer integration with School Attendance Orders [1], [7], [9].

Individually, these measures are rational. Collectively, they re-engineer where judgement sits in the system.

When discretion is replaced by duty, systems rely less on relational flexibility and more on procedural compliance.

The displacement of professional judgement

Under current Welsh practice, escalation decisions are shaped by professionals who know the child and family, with enforcement typically used as a last resort after attempts at stabilisation and support.

Under a more prescriptive statutory framework, judgement is increasingly constrained by procedural triggers, statutory timelines, and information completeness. Delay itself becomes a risk. Context is flattened into compliance. Judgement does not disappear, but it is pushed earlier, higher, and further away from the child.

Why ALN children are particularly exposed

Children with ALN are disproportionately affected by these shifts. Their needs are complex, often non-linear, and frequently expressed behaviourally. In trigger-led systems, distress can appear as non-cooperation, recovery periods can appear as delay, and parental protection can appear as resistance.

As a result, enforcement may occur sooner and on narrower grounds, reducing opportunities for relational repair and increasing system stress for families and professionals alike.

A cultural and philosophical clash

The Bill, as introduced through Westminster, is rooted in an English welfare philosophy that emphasises thresholds, monitoring, and enforcement as safeguarding tools [7], [8]. Welsh children’s services, by contrast, have been deliberately shaped around a well-being philosophy that treats relationships, lived experience, and long-term outcomes as central to safeguarding.

When welfare-led mechanisms are layered onto a well-being-led system, system behaviour changes even where intent does not. This clash plays out structurally, systemically, and at the level of school and home.

Design questions rather than ideology

If safeguarding is to be strengthened without increasing harm, system design must retain proportionality, contextual judgement, relational capacity, and space for prevention.

These are not ideological demands. They are design criteria.

Closing reflection

Safeguarding does not fail because people stop caring. It fails when systems prioritise certainty over proportionality and compliance over context.

When everyone is acting rationally and harm still occurs, the system rather than the individual is where attention must turn.

References (IEEE style)

[1] UK Parliament, Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Bill 11, Session 2024 to 2025. [Online]. Available: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3519

[2] Welsh Government, Legislative Consent Memorandum: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, Senedd Cymru, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.senedd.wales/legislation/legislative-consent-memoranda

[3] Welsh Government, Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2014/4/contents

[4] Welsh Government, Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2015/2/contents

[5] Welsh Government, Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2018/2/contents

[6] Welsh Government, Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.wales/additional-learning-needs-code

[7] Department for Education, Children Not in School: Draft Statutory Guidance, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-not-in-school-draft-guidance

[8] Department for Education, Elective Home Education: Guidance for Local Authorities, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elective-home-education

[9] UK Parliament, Education Act 1996, sections 437 to 443. [Online]. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/contents

[10] Welsh Government, Elective Home Education Guidance for Local Authorities, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.wales/elective-home-education-guidance-local-authorities

[11] Welsh Government, Keeping Learners Safe: Safeguarding Guidance, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.wales/keeping-learners-safe

Why stories still matter for children and emotional regulation

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Why stories still matter (and why Wales is well placed to reclaim them)

Not everything that helps children grow needs to be therapy.

For most of human history, wisdom was passed down through stories. Around fires. At the end of long days. Or at the start of new ones. Long before schools, psychology or parenting manuals, humans used stories to teach children how to live in a world that could be hard, unfair, confusing and beautiful all at once.

Stories did something very specific. They helped children regulate, make sense of difficulty, and understand boundaries without being shamed or overwhelmed.

That is not a coincidence. It is how we evolved.

Stories are older than schools, therapy or the written word

Long before humans could read or write, we told stories.

After a hard day of hunting, gathering or travelling, early humans sat together around a fire with their children and elders. In the flicker of firelight, they passed on what mattered most through story.

Not facts.
Not instructions.
But meaning.

Stories taught:

what to fear
what to respect
when to persist
when to stop
how to live alongside others
how to survive hardship without losing yourself

This is how humans evolved to teach emotional regulation.

The rhythm of a familiar voice.
The predictability of a known ending.
The safety of being together at rest.

Long before the written word existed, stories helped children make sense of a world that was uncertain and often dangerous. They learned about loss, courage, boundaries and responsibility through characters and metaphor, not explanation.

That matters, because it means stories are not an optional extra or a cultural add on. They are part of our biological and social inheritance.

They work because they always have.

What replaced stories did not do the same job

In many households today, that shared space has been quietly replaced. Not by silence, but by screens. By fast moving content designed to provoke outrage, comparison and emotional spikes rather than calm or meaning.

This is not a judgement of parents. It is a reflection of the environment we are all trying to survive in.

Algorithms are not neutral. They are designed to keep attention by amplifying intensity. Over time, that intensity crowds out the quieter practices that help children feel steady.

When stories disappear entirely, something else fills the gap.

Stories are not nostalgia. They are infrastructure.

A story is not just entertainment. It is a handover point between the outside world and a child’s inner one.

Stories:

slow the nervous system
create predictability
externalise problems
teach cause and effect
build meaning without pressure

That is why children ask for the same story again and again. Repetition is reassurance. Knowing what comes next is safety.

Stories also do not have to happen at bedtime to work.

In our house, bedtime was the worst possible time. By then, my son was exhausted and had no capacity for language at all. So we told stories at breakfast instead. Same stories. Same adult. Different timing. No cost. Big impact.

That small adaptation is a good example of what inclusion actually looks like. It is not always about money. Often it is about timing, observation, and flexibility.

Wales already has what we need

One of the quiet strengths of Wales is its public library service. Libraries are:

free
local
trusted
inclusive
non judgemental

This means story led approaches do not exclude families on low incomes. They do not require devices. They do not require specialist input. They simply require time and intention.

In a cost of living crisis, that matters.

Librarians have secret superpowers

One of the most underappreciated assets in Wales is not just our libraries, but the people who work in them.

Librarians have a kind of professional intuition that is rarely talked about. They are exceptionally good at matching the right book to the right child.

Not by age on a spine, but by:

developmental stage rather than chronological age
emotional need rather than reading level
visual accessibility for children with limited language processing
illustration quality for children who struggle with text
themes that can gently support a specific behavioural or emotional challenge

If you explain what you are trying to help a child understand, such as coping with frustration, respecting boundaries, managing anxiety, or feeling different, a good librarian can often suggest a story that does exactly that without turning it into a lesson.

Even better, they are trained to think beyond one child.

They can help you choose books that:

work for neurodivergent children
also benefit siblings or classmates
are inclusive without being patronising
can be shared in group settings as well as one to one

And if the perfect book is not currently stocked by your local library, most councils will order it in so that you can borrow it. That means families are not limited to what happens to be on the shelf that day.

This matters, because it keeps support:

free
local
non stigmatising
accessible to families under financial pressure

Libraries are not just buildings full of books. They are staffed by professionals whose job is to connect people with the right information at the right moment.

Used well, they are one of the most inclusive and cost-effective early support tools we already have.

Stories that quietly teach life skills

Below are examples of traditional stories that help children build resilience, boundaries, and self-regulation. Not as therapy. Just as stories.

The Hare and the Tortoise
Teaches persistence over speed and effort over comparison. Especially powerful for children who feel behind or discouraged.
Simple message: You do not have to be fast. You just have to keep going.

Atlas
Explains why adults carry responsibility so children do not have to yet. Strength as responsibility, not control.
Simple message: Grown-ups carry the sky until you are strong enough.

The Lion and the Mouse
Shows that kindness matters and that even small people have value.
Simple message: Being kind can matter more than being powerful.

Goldilocks
Introduces boundaries, respect for other people’s spaces, and the idea that not everything is yours.
Simple message: Some things are not for you, even if you want them.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Teaches trust, honesty, and consequences in a way children understand.
Simple message: If people stop believing you, help may not come when you need it.

The Ant and the Grasshopper
Encourages planning, balance, and thinking about the future you.
Simple message: Enjoy yourself, but remember tomorrow.

The Ugly Duckling
A powerful story for children who feel different or excluded.
Simple message: Difference is not failure. Belonging can take time.

The Three Little Pigs
Shows why effort, preparation, and solid foundations matter.
Simple message: Shortcuts feel good until they fall down.

The Emperor’s New Clothes
For older children and teens. Teaches critical thinking and speaking up.
Simple message: If something does not make sense, you are allowed to say so.

Not everything has to be therapy

Therapy has its place. It can be life-changing when used well. But it should supplement kind, boundaried parenting, not replace it.

Stories are one of the oldest tools humans have for helping children grow steady. They cost nothing. They are flexible. They work across cultures and generations.

And perhaps most importantly, they remind children of something very simple.

You are not alone.
Someone is here.
The world makes sense eventually.

In uncertain times, that may be one of the most protective gifts we can offer.

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Your story matters here

If reading this has stirred memories, questions or reflections of your own, we would love to hear from you.

We welcome short reflections from parents, carers, professionals, and young people about lived experience of supporting children, navigating systems, or moments that changed how you understood your child or your role.

You do not need to be a polished writer. A few paragraphs, a rough draft, or even notes are enough. Our Blog Editor can help shape submissions with care and respect.

If you would like to contribute, please email: support@learnwithoutlimitscic.org

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If you'd like to join us to reflect on other ideas that can help our children and young people, we are holding an online peer support session later this week. You can book on to join us for calm, reflective discussion either online or in person throughout the year, where we discuss ideas for supporting our children & young people in a live environment. If there's a topic you'd like to discuss at an upcoming session just let us know via email.

You can find the details for booking onto all our events over at eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/o/learn-without-limits-cic-116012434951#events
& on our Website here https://learnwithoutlimitscic.org/events.en.html