Clovenstone Primary and Broomhouse Primary are in areas of relative deprivation in Edinburgh. When the schools received central government grants of pound;6,000 each two years ago, headteachers Maria Plant and Anne Nicol decided to use the money to employ a part-time, school-based social worker.

Both schools wanted to make more effective use of the expertise of trained social services staff to help with the children’s problems. A pupil might come from a family on the brink of some crisis or might have private, niggling worries. They need to turn to someone with expertise. Teachers can only gain “a tickling of knowledge” through initial teacher training and in-service courses to help with non-academic concerns, says Mrs Plant.

The post in fact was filled by two social workers, Caroline Campbell and Moira Shulman, who operate as a team and work 18 hours each, split evenly between the two schools. They come from different backgrounds in social work and Mrs Plant is enthusiastic about the benefits of their different approaches.

Ms Campbell has worked with the city council’s children and family team in the crisis management of particularly difficult cases. Ms Shulman is a psychotherapist with a background in child and adolescent mental health. She works part-time in the adolescent unit of Gartnavel Royal psychiatric hospital in Glasgow.

When children would like to have a chat with one of them, they refer themselves. Referral slips are available in all classrooms and a child simply completes one to see a project worker, as they are known, at the next available time.

Class teachers can also refer a child if they have concerns, but the child is at liberty to turn down the invitation to speak to the team.

At Clovenstone, the team says more boys than girls refer themselves. At Broomhouse there is no particular pattern.

The content of the meetings is confidential, shared only between the two project workers. They are able to access personal pupil records, but the headteacher cannot access details of their meetings unless there is a problem which needs urgent intervention.

If, during the first meeting or shortly thereafter, a child requests a follow-up meeting, the team is obliged to inform the child’s parents or carers. Parents are sometimes surprised that their child has asked for help, says Ms Campbell, but are normally pleased to meet them to discuss the matter. A small number may decline but are happy for the child to get support.

Around half the children are likely to ask for a second chat. “They can be feeling very fragile and are pleased that they can decide for themselves when they want to speak to someone. It’s all about empowering the child,” says Ms Shulman.

Parents are sometimes apprehensive about involvement with social workers, the ultimate fear being that the child could be removed from the family. Children have fewer preconceptions and perceive no such threat.

Ms Campbell is delighted that they are seen by the children as ordinary members of staff. “There is absolutely no stigma associated with paying a visit to our office.”

Loss, in its broadest terms, is the main issue brought up by children at both schools. This encompasses bereavement, on-going terminal illness, loss of a parent through divorce and more general family breakdown. When a child is accommodated with their extended family, feelings of loss can extend to rooms, toys, neighbourhood friendships and personal identity.

The team’s proactive work can prevent unwanted appointments at out-patient clinics. When depression and early feelings of self-harm are worked through in a psychotherapeutic approach, the child’s self-esteem is raised. They can chat about schoolwork, concerns about homework and lead gently into the trickier areas of family and home worries.

Sessions for parents are also proving popular. Ms Campbell recently started a weekly one-hour drop-in breakfast session for parents and creche in the community centre next to the school. So far this has been time for a coffee and chat in confidence. The sessions are parent-led and Ms Campbell is pleased that parents are returning and more are coming week by week.

She plans to offer personal development courses on topics such as complementary medicine and assertiveness training, but says that these will be led by parents’ wishes.

Ms Campbell and Ms Shulman work longer than the school day, which offers times to catch up with teachers and speak to working parents who are unable to attend meetings during the day.

The team has a good professional relationship with the teaching staff at both schools. Ms Campbell says: “The teachers have all been really supportive, which is essential because ultimately what we aim to do is enhance pupils’ learning and improve their chances in life.”

They also offer a personal supportive role for the teachers. They see boosting teachers’ self-esteem just as valuable as their work with pupils. Simply showing concern is important, Ms Campbell says.

Helping out in class from time to time lets the social workers observe pupils and appreciate the rigours of a teaching day. “I don’t know how they manage to cope so well with so many children in one room,” Ms Shulman says.

Both Mrs Plant and Ms Nicol are delighted that their in-school social work scheme is to be extended through new community school funding. Broomhouse Primary is in phase one of the NCS initiative and Clovenstone Primary will join in phase two.

Ms Shulman and Ms Campbell are keen to develop continuity for children moving up through the local schools. They hope to develop group work and meet the needs of more withdrawn children for whom guidance on key personal issues, such as forming friendships, would be useful.

The Edinburgh heads recommend that a social work team would enhance all schools, from the leafy suburbs to areas of deprivation throughout the country.