Kathleen Archibald : Cumbria County Council

"I work with six primary schools in the Carlisle area as part of a relatively new council service which helps improve the attendance, attainment and enjoyment of children who are beginning to experience some problems at school.

It’s an early intervention programme, meaning it’s all about addressing problems before they escalate into bigger ones. The unique thing about my job is that I spend far more time working with the parents than I do with the children.

Children don’t want to be bombarded with all these different adult figures in their life – they already have their parents or carers and their teachers. But if I can spend a bit of time with the parents teaching them techniques in things like behaviour management, understanding child development and identifying children’s needs then that time is well spent. I could have six one-hour sessions with a child and that would be it, but it’s far better to have those sessions with the parent who is with the child all day every day and putting into practice what they’ve learnt.

A lot of my work is about mediation and getting people to see more than just their side of things. This can between children and their parents, families and wider families, or parents and schools. I also help with bereavement counselling and help children deal with the trauma of losing someone.

Once parents have understood that what I do is not about child protection and it’s a voluntary thing rather than a statutory one then they can really get a lot out of it. Some of them are really jaded and exhausted by the time they talk to me and wish they’d got help earlier.

It can be a really satisfying job. I had one mum who was so impressed with all the information I gave her on dealing with tantrums that she photocopied it and shared it out among her friends. I also give advice to families in financial difficulties. One family were on the brink of selling their home and then renting it back but I encouraged them to talk to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and they saw that there were other avenues available to them."