They are often overlooked, afraid of drawing attention to themselves while their noisier or disruptive classmates grab the limelight. But a Barnardo's run scheme is showing shy kids how to shine. Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings reports.

SCHOOL has technically finished at Blaydon West Primary, near Newcastle. But down a colourful corridor in a side classroom sit eight children, all with legs crossed and holding hands.

They are playing a game where they let out the roar of a lion or a miaow of a cat as soon as they feel their classmate squeeze their hand.

One little boy aged about seven, is sitting with his arms folded, his face full of hesitancy. He can barely meet the others' eyes and when it's his turn his "miaows" and "roars" are a little quieter than everyone else's. The squeezing hands reach another boy and he freezes for a moment all eyes upon him. The others smile at him, willing him on in unspoken waves of solidarity to continue. Suddenly he thrusts his arms into the air, his hands bent claw-like.

"Roaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr," he says, beaming at them all.

"Brilliant," encourages Catherine Edmunds, a volunteer with the Pyramid Scheme in which the children are taking part.

It may look like any other after-school fun club, but each of the children sitting in the classroom is being encouraged to develop their confidence. These, and others like them on the Pyramid Scheme, are what you would call shy children, the kind who are reluctant to speak out in class, even though they might know the answers to the questions their teachers ask.

Says Tracy Bell, Pyramid co-ordinator: "The aim is to build confidence and self-esteem in children who are quiet and shy.

When you think of children being in classes of 30, it's difficult for them to make themselves heard sometimes. We try and make them confident enough to speak in front of other children but in a relaxed atmosphere where children can enjoy themselves."

The Pyramid Scheme courses were designed by the National Pyramid Trust for Children, a London-based charity. Barnardo's in Newcastle heard of the scheme and brought it to five North-East schools in 2002. It is now funded by Barnardo's and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and 16 schools are involved, from Alnwick to Gateshead. A course lasts ten weeks and the children in the scheme, who are aged between seven and nine, meet one day a week for 90 minutes. The children in each session come from the same school and are put forward by teachers. During sessions, the children play games to introduce themselves and to build bonds with one another. Activities include making masks, cards and T-shirts. They also go on a trip of their choice during the scheme.

"Some of the children might be new to the area and have had trouble making friends. Some might have had problems at home or in class. Other just might be painfully shy or English is not their first language," says Tracy.

"If there are only ten children they get very close to others in the group. They learn socials skills, how to make friends, and resilience - yes, they might have had a bad day at school, but tomorrow will be better."

By way of example, she recalls one headteacher who stands in the hallway of his school every morning, saying good morning to every child who comes in.

"There was one child who was so shy she would just put her head down and scurry into the nearest classroom," says Tracy.

"But after being on the scheme she came in one day and looked up at him and said 'good morning', and he was amazed. Now she says it all the time.

"It's absolutely wonderful to hear feedback like that from the teachers."

The scheme also brings huge rewards for the volunteers who give up their time to run the sessions. There are three volunteers per group.

Nicola Grimes from Sunderland has recently graduated in health development studies from Northumbria University. She got involved through the university's Voluntary Action scheme.

"I find it so rewarding seeing the positive differences we have made in so many children," she says. "There was one little boy from Turkey who had problems speaking English and his parents didn't speak English at home. By the end of the scheme he was coming up and asking questions in English all the time. I felt as if we had made such a difference in that child's life and for the rest of his school years."

The reason behind the scheme's success lies in the way it catches the children early, before shyness can develop into problems in the future, says Tracy.

"There has been research done which says if you don't catch problems at this age it's very difficult to work on those problems later on," she says. "When you think about getting a group of seven to nine-year-olds together they're quite happy to join in, but when you think about getting a bunch of teenage lads together, it's altogether different."

Catherine Edmunds, a volunteer who is employed by The Salvation Army to be involved in community projects agrees: "Children at this age are more accepting and allow their peers to change. If they see previously quiet kids becoming more extrovert they just accept it, whereas older children are put in boxes and it's harder for them to change."

Sharon Forster knows exactly how the scheme can make a difference. Her daughter, Chloe, nine, was chosen by teachers at her school, St Bede's Primary at Denton Burn, near Newcastle, to join the scheme.

"She was quite quiet and wasn't very confident at speaking out," says Sharon, who has four other children.

"I never had a bad (school) report about her, it just used to say that she was quiet. But after about four weeks you could see the change in her. Every day I used to say to her 'who did you play with at school?' and she would say 'nobody'. Then after a while she would say 'I played with my friend who was in the club' (the Pyramid Scheme)."

Since finishing the course last year, Chloe has also started learning the flute, at her own request.

"I couldn't believe it," says Sharon. "She'd never done anything like it before and now she loves it. She'll give anything a go. She even goes to church every Sunday now because she asked if she could."

Back at the Pyramid Scheme at Blaydon West Primary the children have donned T-shirts they have made in class and are playing a game of sharks and lifeguards under a huge colourful parachute silk in the hall.

The little boy whose "roarrrs" were so quiet earlier is now thrusting his hand in the air, urging Catherine to pick him as a lifeguard.

He jumps up and runs around the parachute's circle, laughing loudly as he tries to stop his friends from being dragged under by an imaginary shark.

"Aye Carumba!" shouts one excited youngster. "This is fun."

* Anyone interested in volunteering for the Pyramid Scheme is asked to contact Tracy Bell at Barnardo's on 0191-212 0237 or by emailing tracy.bell@barnardos.org.uk.