You're not imagining it
For Parents
When school feels complicated
Let’s understand it together.
Parents who come to Braythorpe have usually tried everything. They’ve had the meetings, sent the emails, trusted the process. And they still don’t feel like they’re getting anywhere. That’s not necessarily because the school doesn’t care, it’s often because the system is hard to navigate from the outside.
No commitment. Completely confidential.
Dave Church
Education Consultant · Children's Coach · Adoptive Parent
Evenings available
Parent conversations
One hour · video or phone
written summary included
What families bring to Braythorpe
“We’ve been asking for support for over a year. I don’t know how to have the conversation differently.”
SEND support, the SEND Register and the wider SEND process
“He’s been excluded three times this term. Nobody’s explaining why the support isn’t working.”
Exclusions, suspensions and managed moves
“She won’t go in. The school is threatening fines. But something happened there and she doesn’t feel safe.”
School refusal and attendance
“We’re going through the adoption process. I need someone to help me explain our son’s needs to school in a way they can work with.”
Adopted, looked-after and previously looked-after children · Pupil Premium Plus entitlements · trauma-informed approaches
🚪
"The door isn't the problem."
Emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) is one of the most misunderstood challenges families face. When a child won't go in, the instinct is to focus on the door. The difficulty runs deeper. Braythorpe helps families and schools understand what's driving avoidance and find approaches that actually work.
For adoptive and prospective adoptive families
You understand your child.
Helping school understand them too.
Adoptive parents often arrive at Braythorpe knowing exactly what their child needs, and feeling like they're explaining it into a void. The school meeting that didn't move things forward. The teacher who didn't understand trauma. The funding that should be there but isn't.
Dave is a current adoptive parent, not just a professional who has read about it. That changes the conversation.
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Pupil Premium Plus: what your child is entitled to and how to make sure it's spent well
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Trauma-informed communication: how to have conversations with school that actually land
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Transition planning: moving schools, starting secondary, periods of change
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Understanding what the school can and cannot do within current guidance
"Both sides of the gate. As a former Deputy Head and a current adoptive parent, Dave understands this from both directions."
Dave Church, founder
HOW IT WORKS
One hour. A clear plan.
A parent conversation with Braythorpe is a private, confidential hour to talk through exactly what’s happening. Sometimes you just need someone who can translate school-speak into plain English, and decode the jargon around SEND, trauma, exclusions and attendance, so you can understand your options and have better conversations with school.
You’ll leave with a clearer picture of what’s possible, what to ask for, and how to work constructively with the school to get there. A written summary of the agreed next steps is sent within 24 hours.
1
Book online
Choose a time that works, including evenings and weekends.
2
Short intake form
Tell me what’s happening so we don’t waste the hour on basics.
3
The conversation
One hour by video or phone. Just you and me, talking it through properly.
4
Written summary
Your agreed next steps in writing, sent within 24 hours.
Pricing
Parent Conversation | £60 for one hour
Whatever stage you’re at, there’s a place to start
Whether you need clarity, your child needs a coach, or your school needs better-equipped staff.
TESTIMONIALS
What parents say
Real families. Real outcomes.
“I came out of that call knowing exactly what to ask for at the review, and how to have the conversation. For the first time in two years, I felt like I understood what was possible.”
Parent · child with SEND needs · Berkshire
“Dave understood our situation immediately. He didn’t tell us what we wanted to hear, he told us what we needed to know. That was more valuable than anything.”
Adoptive parent · post-exclusion support
“I’d spent months feeling like no one was on our side. One conversation with Dave changed that completely.”
Parent · school refusal · Year 6