children across the UK prepare to start school this September, most families are focused on lunchboxes, phonics, and zipped-up coats. But one mother is asking: what about the social bruises, the friendship fallouts, and the invisible wounds children don’t talk about?
Angharad Davies, a former educator and children’s author, knows this terrain all too well. When her son started school, she thought he was ready, but within weeks, he was coming home quiet, confused, and hurt.
“There were comments about his food, laughter at his hiccups, and conditions on party invites and friendships,” she says. “I quickly realised I’d prepared his backpack, but not his heart.”
That realisation led to the creation of The Invisible Schoolbag, a digital toolkit designed to help parents prepare children emotionally for the often unspoken but very real social challenges of school: cliques, comparison, confusion, and the pressure to fit in.
“We tell kids to ‘be kind’, but we rarely teach them how to set boundaries, speak up, or stay rooted in who they are,” says Angharad.
The Invisible Schoolbag includes:
Scripts for setting boundaries and expressing emotions
Metaphors to help children understand complex dynamics
Tools to build quiet confidence, not just compliance
This isn’t about adding pressure to parents. It’s about giving children language, reassurance, and emotional tools to carry with them from day one.
“Most children don’t tell us when something’s wrong,” Angharad adds. “I only knew what was happening because my son did. And even then, I wasn’t always sure how to help, so this toolkit is what I wish I’d had.”
The Invisible Schoolbag is available to download and is ideal for parents, carers, and educators who want to support emotional resilience alongside academic and practical preparation. You can also follow Angharad on TikTok and Instagram for all her recommendations in the lead-up to the school year.
For more details go to https://www.invisibleschoolbag.com and https://www.bowlycan.com
To contact Angharad email at angharad@bowlycan.com
Angharad Davies is a mother of two young boys, a former educator, and the founder of The Bowly Can Approach – a story-led method for building emotional resilience from the earliest years. Based in South Wales, UK, she holds postgraduate qualifications in psychology and play therapy, and writes her growing series of children’s books with children, not just for them.
Her work blends metaphor, mindset tools, and playful storytelling to help children aged 3-8 build strong roots of resilience they can draw on long after childhood.