In recent years a lot of work and resources have been focused on school children with overt challenging behaviours who seriously disrupt the classroom.

But at the other end of the spectrum there are children who are more troubled than troublesome. They are silent children who withdraw from others and can become isolated, depressed and anxious.

In a busy classroom it is easy for teachers to overlook children who make few demands on their time. But if they are ignored these children will not only fail to thrive at school, but may sink deeper and deeper into distress.

Harvest Trust is one of the UK's leading childrens holiday charities, which has provided therepeutic seaside holidays for disadvantaged children since 1986.

Over the last decade, we have developed week-long nurture holidays specially for small groups of socially withdrawn children and those with low self-confidence.

The holidays are for children between 8 and 11 years old, organised in partnership with primary schools and selected community organisations, funded by Harvest Trust, and based at our own holiday centre set in beautiful countryside near Cardigan Bay in West Wales.

For many of these often silent children, a week at Harvest Trust has been literally life-changing, with teachers, social workers and parents reporting huge improvements in confidence and interaction with others.