Just Listen: A Student-Led Project to Raise Awareness of Stammering in Schools

Just Listen: A National Stammer Awareness Educational Package

When a student shared how her stammer made school life more challenging, it sparked an idea that grew into Just Listen — a student-led project designed to raise awareness of stammering in schools. In this blog, Miss Lovel reflects on how one conversation became the catalyst for change, uniting students, educators, and speech therapists to help every young person who stammers feel seen, understood, and supported. 

On 22 October 2025 — International Stammering Awareness Day, we’ll launch a new project called Just Listen at Holderness Academy. Developed in collaboration with Humber NHS, the Consortium Academy Trust, and speech and language therapist Siobhan Ward, the project aims to increase understanding of stammering in secondary schools by letting young voices lead the conversation.

Growing up with a father who had a severe stammer shaped me long before I ever became a teacher. From an early age, I was acutely aware of how unkind the world could be — how something as natural as speaking could invite judgment, impatience, and ridicule. Watching how people reacted to my dad taught me a deep lesson about empathy and the power of listening. He was strong, funny, and wise, and I saw every day that his stammer was only one small part of who he was.

In October 2024, I decided to share that story in a school assembly. I spoke about my dad, about what I’d learned from him, and about how those experiences shaped the teacher and person I am today.

After that assembly, several students came to speak with me. Many said that hearing about stammering from a teacher — not as a clinical topic, but as a lived experience — made them feel seen and understood. One of those students was Laila, who told me how her own stammer made everyday school life more challenging — from reading aloud in class to chatting with friends.

“School was very challenging for me growing up, for many different reasons; children were cruel, and it made me very self-conscious and anxious to speak.”

Over time, Laila worked hard to build her confidence. She even took a job answering phones in a busy takeaway, pushing herself out of her comfort zone every day. Then one afternoon, she knocked on my door and said something that has stayed with me ever since.

That conversation became the seed of Just Listen.

From that moment, I knew we had to do something meaningful. I reached out to Siobhan Ward, a speech and language therapist who immediately understood what we were trying to achieve. With her support — and the help of Humber NHS and the Consortium Academy Trust — we began co-developing Just Listen a project that was led by learners across the Humber and East Riding of Yorkshire.

The project includes:

• Assemblies for both primary and secondary  to raise awareness of stammering
• Training for staff to better support students who stammer
• A short film, made my young people telling their own stories

Throughout this process, it was vital that the project remained learner-led. The voices of young people, particularly those who stammer, have shaped every decision we made.

Just Listen will be hosted on the Action for Stammering Children and STAMMA websites and available to schools across the UK. Our hope is that it will encourage open conversations, build empathy, and help ensure that every student who stammers feels understood and supported.

This article was written by Miss Lovel, Assistant Headteacher at Holderness Academy