1Find one adult in the building the child already trusts, and have them meet the child at the entrance. The doorway is the hardest minute of the day.
The job is small and specific: be there at the door, walk with them to their locker, get them started, be findable later on. It turns the worst moment from something faced alone into something faced with someone. Agree at the start how this will wind down, so that in six weeks nobody discovers the child can only come in when one particular person is at work.
Islamic evidence
each person has guardian angels before him and behind, watching over him by God's command (Quran 13:11). Being accompanied through the frightening part is written into how we are made.
“each person has guardian angels before him and behind, watching over him by God’s command. God does not change the condition of a people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves, but if He wills harm on a people, no one can ward it off–– apart…”
Qur'an 13:11
Psychological evidence
A critical review of safety behaviours during exposure found the evidence genuinely mixed, with some studies suggesting early support does no harm, and argued from inhibitory learning theory that these supports usually have to come off for change to last. Neither the enthusiastic reading nor the strict one is quite right. The practical answer is to plan the help and plan its removal at the same time.
Blakey SM, Abramowitz JS. (2016). Clinical psychology review · doi
Review detail
Why it works. A familiar face makes the hardest minute possible, and stepping that help back later is what makes the rest of the building possible.