Elliot*, in year 6 at a regional NSW school, was very shy when he met his Rise mentor at the end of 2023.
His school referred him to the program because his attendance was very low, with him refusing to go to school most days.
His father was taken into custody a few years earlier, and he and his brother had no relationship with him any longer. This disruption to their lives caused stress at home, and they had complex emotions to process.
Elliot’s mother was struggling with managing the boy’s behaviour, with his brother even being moved to a different school to avoid them fighting in the playground and being sent home on the days she could get them there.
Elliot was unsure what to expect in his sessions and told our mentor that he didn’t like talking with teachers.
To help him settle, his mentor invited him to join some of her sessions with another student who was his friend and was transitioning out of the program and going to high school in 2024.
Together, they played games and shared a bit about themselves, helping to build trust between Elliot and his mentor.
When 2024 started, his mentor was happy when he arrived ready and willing to give it a go for their first one-on-one session. After only a few sessions, she said she was “blown away by his engagement”.
“We made a goal that he would attend school every Tuesday for our sessions,” she said.
“We’ve worked on understanding emotions and processing them positively … and on the difference between anxiety and anger and how being anxious affects his body so he can understand when this is happening.”
With the year complete, his mentor is incredibly proud of his efforts and attendance. He came in every Tuesday except for one when he competed in the zone cross country.
And it’s not only Tuesdays for his sessions, but every day that he’s been going to school! He’s had a near-perfect attendance this year, a pretty big turnaround from the year beforehand!
His mother is overjoyed with the change and wants her other son to begin with Rise mentoring as well.
Elliot’s teachers are “over the moon with his growth and attendance,” and so is his mentor.
*Names and images are changed to protect participant privacy.
Thank you to the Raymond E Purves Foundation for supporting this program.
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