Parenting Beneath Behaviour Series: Why Is School So Hard?

Sam Lewis Therapy is running a workshop at Acorn House on Saturday 5 December, titled Why Is School So Hard?. It's part of the Parenting Beneath Behaviour series, and the whole thing is built around one question: why a child's 'can't' can sometimes look like 'won't'.

If you've got a child who's struggling with school, you know the feeling. The session looks at school avoidance, refusal and shutdown, and what might be lying beneath them. It weighs up the demands children face throughout the day — the social expectations, the constant change, and the pressure to just keep going. It's about understanding that what looks like a refusal to cooperate is often a child who's reached their limit.

There's space here for the parents, too. It's not just about the child; the workshop makes room for the self-doubt, the guilt and the exhaustion that come with it. It's a chance to talk through that side of things with other parents who get it.

Numbers are kept small, with a maximum of eight participants, so it's more of a conversation than a lecture. It's a 2.5-hour in-person session for over-18s. Registration is through Eventbrite on an expression of interest basis, and places are secured by booking and paying through Sam Lewis Therapy's website. It runs from 10:00 to 12:30, with doors open from 9:45, at Acorn House, Midsummer Blvd, Milton Keynes MK9 3HB.