Student Wellbeing

Michele Hedley

WOW - Week Of Wonder

Welcome back to everyone.  I hope you have all had  great break. 

This year we are beginning each term with a WOW week - a Week Of Wonder.  In Term 1 during WOW week, the students revisit important policies which promote the development of Social and Emotional Learning: Our Behaviour Management policy and our Anti-bullying Policy. Students also revise our Child Safety and Cyber Safety policies.   Students develop their understanding of of how to treat others and their role in promoting a positive learning space for everyone in our school.

I wonder how I can help my child when they are feeling anxious?

Firstly, we need to remember that it’s normal for children and adults to worry.  A certain level of anxiety/worry / concern, actually motivates us to care for ourselves and others and to perform at our best.  However, if our level of anxiety or worry is interfering with going about our normal daily tasks or stopping us doing something we want to or should do, then we need to seek help or support.

Therefore, we need to let children know that it is OK to feel anxious – that worrying about something is normal and give them ways to deal with their concerns.  It’s not about telling them they are silly to worry about something; it’s not silly to have a concern, but it may be silly to let it stop them doing something they like to do; eg., not going to a party because they don’t like their haircut.

CONFIDENCE – As part of our child safety policy,  we teach our students the importance of speaking up when they have a worry.  The students identify people they can trust to share their worries if they have a concern and of course parents and teachers are first on the list.  Confident people understand that it is normal to feel worried about something; they share their concerns and get help.

Therefore, it is important for us to listen when children are sharing their concerns.  It is equally important for us to monitor our own reactions so that children feel confident to share their feelings and they feel reassured.  You may be able to share feeling the same way at a similar age. Keep things in perspective, don’t let the concern become bigger than it needs to be and give some suggestions for a way forward.  Having a sense of hope is vital as it assures us things will get better.

When a child shares a worry or problem:

LISTEN

REASSURE

PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

PLAN A WAY FORWARD

As parents we want our children to have perfect lives.  We can’t create a perfect world but we can work to develop resilience and confidence in our children so that they are able to cope with whatever happens in life.  Having a sense of hope is extremely important to our wellbeing.  As Catholics our sense of hope comes through our faith and we should never underestimate the importance of faith in any challenging time.