REAL LIFE: Rainbows in the classroom

2008: Jo Thomas, 27, came to work for YMCA Norfolk as a pastoral care worker in a Norfolk primary schools five years ago.

"As a volunteer youth worker, the job really appealed to me. The main frustration is just not having enough time with all the children who need support," she says.

Jo is based at a primary school in one of the most deprived areas in the UK. As pastoral care worker, she has her own private room where she plays and talks with young children who are referred to her care by teachers, social services, or self-referral. Any troubled child in the school can come and see Jo.

Jo's first year with the YMCA was a baptism of fire, when an eight-year-old school boy went missing from the streets near his home. To this day his disappearance remains a mystery and he has never been found.

"The different stories flying around were getting increasingly horrifying. Many of his classmates were upset and terrified by what had happened. We spent a lot of time talking it over with the children, learning to discern rumour from fact. Two years later some of them were still dreaming about him."

Later that same year, another child was hit and killed in a road accident. "It was a terrible time; children in the youngster’s class were very upset. But in some ways it was easier to help them in this instance; as we knew the facts about what had happened."

Rainbows is a loss and bereavement group that Jo runs at the school. Children come for a variety of reasons. "We've had a number of children affected by the death of a parent in the last few years, and others who have lost grandparents; some are coping with being transferred between foster homes, family break down or a parent goes to prison.

“There are many ways that children experience grief and loss. One child came when she discovered that the person she thought was her dad turned out not to be."

Rainbows is a 12-week programme in which children keep a diary of their feelings, and learn to process the guilt which often accompanies bereavement. 'If only I …'

Through one-to-one counselling and supporting one another, children can learn gradually to come to terms with events beyond their control that have knocked them sideways.

Harry’s mum had died of leukaemia and he'd been fostered locally when his dad had been sent to prison. He found it hard to make friends, and some other children teased him about his family.

"Sometimes it was nothing more malicious than children's insensitivity, but he couldn't always see it that way. Other kids did get a bit nasty, often because they were missing a parent as well, only his situation seemed so much worse. It made him more vulnerable."

Harry started to lash out at other children. After spending time at Rainbows, Harry was able to open up to Jo and even, quietly, to chat to other in the group. "The Rainbows group helps form a real bond between those children," smiles Jo.

The following year, Harry was nominated for a Norfolk children's award as Most Enthusiastic Person, and he won! Rumour has it that he's still wearing that medal to this day.