For Parents

Understand what school really feels like for your child.

“How was school?”
“Fine.”

“Is anything worrying you?”
“I don’t know.”

Sometimes children know that something at school feels difficult — but finding the words to explain it is much harder.

My School Experience cards give children another way to tell you.

Created by Educational Psychologists, the cards help you explore your child’s strengths, difficulties and what might help through simple, accessible conversations.

Shop the Cards

Why parents use My School Experience Cards

The cards can help you understand:

what your child enjoys and feels confident about
what they find difficult, stressful or overwhelming
things they haven't known how to tell you
what helps them feel comfortable and ready to learn
which strategies actually work for them
what they would like adults at school to understand

Because sometimes “I don't know” doesn't mean there isn't an answer — it means finding the words is difficult.

How do we use them?

It's simple.

1. Pick a few cards
You don't need to use the whole pack.

2. Let your child sort them
For example: Like me / Sometimes / Not like me.

3. Talk about what they choose
Try: “Tell me about that one” or “When does that happen?”

4. Find out what helps
Use the Strategy Cards to identify support your child already finds helpful — and things they might like to try.

Ten minutes can tell you a lot.

Useful before School meetings

Have you got a meeting with your child's teacher, SENCO or another professional?

Use the cards beforehand to identify the three or four things your child most wants school to know.

They're particularly useful when preparing for:

SEN Support meetings
EHCP Annual Reviews
meetings about anxiety or attendance
transition to a new class or school
Educational Psychology or other professional involvement

You can take your child's choices into the meeting, helping their views become part of the conversation even if they don't want to attend themselves.

"My child doesn't talk about school."

That's exactly where the cards can help.

Questions like “Why don't you like school?” can feel enormous.

A card gives your child something concrete to respond to.

Instead of having to find the words themselves, they can simply say:

“Yes. That's like me.”

And the conversation can start from there.

Made for children.
Created by Educational Psychologists.

My School Experience Cards are designed to make conversations about school visual, structured and accessible.

They can be particularly helpful for children with SEND or communication differences, but your child doesn't need a diagnosis, EHCP or identified special educational need to use them.

They're simply a practical way to understand your child's experience from their point of view.