A Safe School for Highly Sensitive and Anxious Children: Inside Fáilte Microschool

When School Feels Overwhelming: A Child’s Point of View

You step into a room full of new people.

You're nervous, feeling all kinds of feelings in your body: tingly hands, heart pounding in your ears, butterflies in your stomach.

All around you kids YOUR age are talking, running, everyone seems excited to be in this place that for you just seems too loud, too busy, too scary to even think straight.

You try to come up with ways to cope. You take a lot of trips to the bathroom. Sit separate from the group. Doodle on your paper. You start doing new things that you don't usually do. But it doesn't matter, it just all seems to go too fast. But why is everyone else doing fine? What is wrong with you?

The adult in the room doesn't understand either. They seem to think this is all normal and fine!

When you go home you tell your parents that you hate school. You get stomach aches, headaches, can't sleep thinking about dealing with another day of all of the busyness.But they say you have to go.There isn't another option.

A downward spiral begins.

The Hidden Ways Anxiety Shows Up in Children

When you spend enough time around children who are anxious or overwhelmed, you start to notice something: their bodies speak long before their words ever do. And if you listen closely — really listen — you’ll hear stories in the headaches, in the stomachaches, in the tears that show up only at home, in the way their shoulders rise toward their ears when you walk into a room.

As parents we feel this too.

I see it every time I browse the Facebook groups that you and I both end up in — the ones where parents are trying so hard to make sense of what’s happening to their child. You’ll see a mom say her daughter gets migraines every school week but seems fine all summer. Another parent describing the stomachaches that start the second they get up in the morning. Someone else asking for recommendations because their child suddenly has new strange behaviors at school that are a big surprise.

And then the comment that shows up again and again:

“He holds it together all day, and then falls apart the moment we get in the car.”

People call it restraint collapse. They say it’s normal, like it’s just part of childhood.

But what if it isn’t?

Is This Really “Normal”? What the Research Says About Anxiety and School

What if all of these are the clearest signals a child can give that something in the environment is overwhelming their nervous system day after day?

What if those headaches and stomachaches aren’t random at all, but the body’s way of trying to wave a flag that says “I can’t keep doing this”?

Research shows that anxiety in children often presents as physical symptoms because the stress response system is activated all day. A 2023 study published in JAMA Network Open found that children with stress-related school difficulties had significantly more headaches, stomach pain, sleep problems, and shutdown behaviors—clear evidence that the nervous system is overwhelmed, not misbehaving. The Child Mind Institute also confirms that school-based anxiety frequently appears in the body first: migraines, GI pain, nausea, and “mystery illnesses” that improve when the stressor (school environment) is removed.

So maybe we should stop asking, “Is this normal?”

And instead ask the more important question even if it’s common… is it acceptable?

A Safe School for Highly Sensitive Children: What Fáilte Microschool Feels Like

But what if there is another option?

That’s where Fáilte Microschool comes in.

For many families searching for a school for highly sensitive children, Fáilte often becomes the first place where their child finally feels safe. Fáilte is a small, safe, therapeutic school environment where children who carry anxiety or sensitivity finally get to stop bracing themselves. When a child walks through our door, they aren’t hit with noise or crowds — they’re greeted by soft lighting, a calm room, and teachers who meet them at eye level. The space itself is gentle: warm wood tables, cozy nooks, a quieter adjoining room, and a rhythm that moves slowly enough for their nervous system to keep up.

We keep our class size to under 10, and have no situation (lunch, recess) where children are thrown into a bigger group triggering their nervous system into those fear responses. Instead of a chaotic cafeteria or a huge playground, our days unfold in soft, predictable ways — shared meals around a table, time outside in small groups, movement woven in naturally rather than demanded. There is never a moment where a child has to push through overwhelm just to survive the environment.

Our foundation in FloorTime therapy gives us a therapeutic, relationship-first approach. This means that we prioritize children feeling safe and connected to others over anything else. We aren't going to force them to participate when they aren't ready. A child can sit next to a teacher quietly for as long as they need. They can watch before they join. They can speak when their voice feels steady. We follow their cues — not a schedule that rushes ahead of them.

We have a variety of spaces and resources for children to use when they need space. Is it getting too noisy? Go to the comfy spot in the other room. And that is normalized! Not ready to speak up in front of the group? You won't be called on unless you want to be. It’s not avoidance here — it’s self-regulation. And every child gets to learn what their body needs without shame.

Why Sensitive and Anxious Children Begin to Thrive Again

We find that kids only need all of these supports and accommodations for a little while so their nervous systems can recalibrate and reset. Then they begin to thrive and come out of their shell. Their sense of wonder comes back. They get curious, silly, excited, and engaged again.

But it has to start with feeling safe.

When Children Feel Safe, Everything Changes

If you’ve been looking for a school for highly sensitive or anxious children that truly honors your child’s nervous system, you are not alone.

If you recognize your child in this — the stomachaches, the quiet bravery, the after-school collapse, the way they’re holding themselves together by sheer force of will — I want you to know something parents don’t hear nearly enough:

It doesn't have to be this way!

Their body is telling the truth about an environment that hasn’t known how to meet them.

When they step into a place that does understand — a place where the pace is gentle, the adults are attuned, and safety is the starting point — everything begins to soften. Children who were anxious start to breathe again. Children who were shut down start to open. Children who were overwhelmed begin to trust the world a little more.

This is often the moment parents say,“There you are. This is my child. I haven’t seen this version of them in so long.”

If you’re reading this and wondering whether your sensitive or anxious child would feel safe at Fáilte… reach out.

You don’t have to figure this out alone, and neither do they.