Example only
Ellie's EBSA Map
Ellie is a fictional child, aged 11, in Year 7. This is a complete map generated from an example set of answers so you can see the shape of what you get. Your own map will use your child's name and your own words.
Card 1
What we're seeing
School appears to be taking considerably more energy than is visible during the school day. You described a relatively settled presentation in school alongside significant distress or exhaustion outside it. Taken together this points most towards anxiety led, though these pathways overlap and one can create or intensify another. These are patterns in what you have described, not a diagnosis, and every one of them can be opened up to see exactly which answers it came from.
There appears to be a difference between how your child presents during school and the impact seen outside school. It may be useful to explore what effort is required to maintain that presentation.
Your child can access some days or lessons but not others. This usually points to specific demands rather than a general unwillingness to attend.
Card 2
Your strongest themes
Only themes supported by your answers are shown. Open any theme to see exactly what it came from.
Card 3
Your pathway picture
These are patterns, not diagnoses. Children often experience more than one pathway at the same time.
Card 4
Pressure points
- The morning transition
- Unexpected timetable changes
- Physical symptoms before school
- Arrival at the school gate
- Sunday evening anticipation
- Lunchtime
- Moving between lessons
- Unexpected changes and cover staff
- PE lessons
- Homework after a full school day
Card 5
What seems to help
- A quiet, predictable arrival
- Being met by a familiar adult
- Knowing the plan in advance
- Time with a trusted adult
- Creative and practical subjects
- Access to a quiet space
- Trusted adult
Card 6
What may currently be increasing pressure
- Your answers suggest that increased pressure around attendance may currently be adding to morning distress.
- Homework appears to be landing at the point in the day when capacity is already used up.
Card 7
What to do this week
No more than five things, ranked. Start at the top and ignore the rest if that is all you have capacity for.
- 1Record morning distress for seven daysNote the time, what was happening, and how long it lasted. A week of records shows a pattern that a single difficult morning cannot.
- 2Move the conversation away from the morningAsk about school at a calm, unrelated moment. Questions during panic rarely produce information and often add pressure.
- 3Put the difference between home and school in writingDescribe what you see after school alongside what school describes. The gap is information, not a disagreement.
- 4Name the two hardest sensory moments of the dayPick the two that come up most, and ask school about those specifically rather than about sensory support in general.
- 5Get tomorrow known tonightAsk school for the next day's plan, including any cover staff or changes, and share it with your child in the evening.
Card 8
Things that may be adding pressure
Nothing here is a criticism. These are things families often find are worth reconsidering.
Repeating reward chart or incentives in the same form
Your information suggests this has not been helping. It may be worth reconsidering it, or changing what it asks of your child, before it is tried again.
Framing progress purely as attendance
It may be worth asking that access to education is recorded alongside attendance, so progress your child is making stays visible.
Card 9
Things school could explore
Every suggestion is tied to something you told us, so you can explain why you are asking.
A quiet, predictable arrival
Agree a consistent arrival time, entrance and first point of contact, away from the busiest part of the day.
Why this might help: You told us “Mornings are very distressed” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why anticipatory distress is showing on your map.
A safe base to use before overload
Identify a low-stimulation space your child can use proactively, not only after distress becomes visible.
Why this might help: You told us “My child attends but falls apart afterwards” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why presentation difference is showing on your map.
A non-verbal way to say 'this is too much'
Agree a card, signal or phrase that requires no explanation in the moment and is always honoured.
Why this might help: You told us “My child attends but falls apart afterwards” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why presentation difference is showing on your map.
Advance notice of changes
Share cover staff, room changes, assemblies and timetable changes in advance, in writing where possible.
Why this might help: You told us “Mornings are very distressed” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why anticipatory distress is showing on your map.
A practical sensory plan
Agree adjustments for the specific sensory load reported — corridors, dining hall, uniform, noise — rather than sensory support in general.
Why this might help: You told us “Lunchtime” for “Which parts of the school day appear hardest?” — which is why sensory overload is showing on your map.
Movement outside peak times
Allow your child to move between lessons a few minutes early or late to avoid crowded corridors.
Why this might help: You told us “Lunchtime” for “Which parts of the school day appear hardest?” — which is why sensory overload is showing on your map.
An alternative to unstructured social time
Offer a club, small group or supervised quiet option at break and lunch, chosen with your child.
Why this might help: You told us “Lunchtime” for “Which parts of the school day appear hardest?” — which is why sensory overload is showing on your map.
A timetable built around capacity
Review which parts of the day are sustainable and build the timetable from those, rather than reducing hours as a sanction or a temporary fix.
Why this might help: You told us “My child attends but falls apart afterwards” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why presentation difference is showing on your map.
Protected recovery after school
Reduce or remove homework while recovery time is this long, and agree how learning is caught up without adding evening demands.
Why this might help: You told us “My child attends but falls apart afterwards” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why recovery deficit is showing on your map.
Smaller group or one-to-one for the hardest subjects
Identify the specific lessons that consistently create difficulty and explore a smaller setting for those.
Why this might help: You told us “Lunchtime” for “Which parts of the school day appear hardest?” — which is why social pressure is showing on your map.
Lower-stakes ways to show learning
Reduce public answering, unannounced tests and marked-in-front-of-others work; agree alternatives to record learning.
Why this might help: You told us “Lunchtime” for “Which parts of the school day appear hardest?” — which is why social pressure is showing on your map.
Shift the focus from attendance to access
Record what education your child is accessing — lessons, online, tutoring, home learning — instead of measuring the situation by percentage alone.
Why this might help: You told us “Mornings are very distressed” for “How would you describe things currently?” — which is why anticipatory distress is showing on your map.
Where this information came from
Every statement in this record is labelled with where it came from. Nothing is presented as professional opinion unless a professional said it.
- Parent saidRecorded directly from what you told us. It is your account, not a professional judgement.
- Child saidYour child's own words, kept separate and never reworded.
- School reportedly saidWhat you have told us school said. It has not been confirmed by school.
- Recorded patternCalculated from your own dated check-ins and events. No interpretation added.
- What this may meanA suggested reading of your information, generated by the platform. It is a hypothesis to accept, change or reject — never the final word on your child.
Ready to map your own child?
Start with the free snapshot if you want a feel for it, or create an account to build the full map and keep it as things change.