In a video call today, one of my students summed up what I think many families are feeling at this time, he said, “Miss Couchman, humans are designed to be social beings, but I feel like that means socialising with other people, NOT just your own family!” Over the past fortnight, many parents and students have been in contact with me, from both campuses, about the struggles they are having within the family unit due to the current COVID-19 restrictions.

Some of the problems occurring include:

Uncertainty and anxiety around school face-to-face return dates, particularly for our International and interstate students and their families.
Conflict around expectations, rules and student accountability
Conflict surrounding motivation of students to attend classes and complete set work
Families feeling smothered, with parents and students feeling there is little relief, breaks or space from each other
Parents finding the regulation of screen time difficult with students having more access to technology during the day
Poorer weather means many students are moving less or getting outside for fresh air which can compound negative feelings
Parents struggling with trying to maintain the work-home family balance, with juggling working from home, also assisting students or keeping an eye on their learning.

While I don’t have a magic wand or all the answers (trust me, I have experienced many of the above with my own family), I can suggest a few strategies that I have found useful, or have read about…

Re-establish house rules:

Re-visit and if necessary, revise rules that apply within the family surrounding chores, behaviour, technology and responsibilities

Be consistent:

Children and adolescents generally thrive when they know there are clear guidelines, schedules and rules to follow. They will get confused if rules are not consistent and push the boundaries if they think they can get away with something!

Establish clear guidelines around family members working from home:

Set check in times throughout the day and establish working guidelines for children and parents.

Be kind to yourself and use self-care:

This applies to everyone. We cannot learn well, parent well or be our best version of ourselves if we are exhausted. There are so many unknowns at this point in time, so we need to be practising self-care, and doing something every day to look after ourselves.

Some ideas discussed are taken from the link below, an article from the Association for Positive Behavior Support, entitled “Ten Positive Behavior Support Strategies to Support Families at Home”

https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/sites/default/files/APBS%20Behavior%20Support%20Strategies%20at%20Home.pdf

I would strongly recommend this for the practical strategies it offers for families.

Kate Couchman

School Counsellor

Around Australia Challenge

The Challenge continues to be incredibly close. Learmonth has relinquished their lead after Week One. Slytherin House now hold a slender 22km lead.

So where would we currently find each House? Mr Drummond has pinpointed your exact location:

3133km – Laidlaw reached Burketown last night, saw the crocodiles and decided against a swim despite the pleasant 29C. They left Burketown this morning and are 20km down the road back towards Mt Isa

3111km – Berry has just reached Burketown for lunch. Passed an unruly mob dressed in blue along the way. Responded to suggestions they were slack with a collective appropriate gesture.

2985km – Learmonth left Mt Isa this morning and can see Laidlaw’s approaching dust cloud – it matches their yellow tops.

2962km – Young have made up considerable ground since search parties were dispatched last week. Stewards are investigating rumours about an empty road train being involved. They’ve stopped for lunch after leaving Mt Isa this morning.

Kristen Waldron

Deputy Principal Senior Years and Wellbeing

The Hamilton and Alexandra College Newsletter

Issue 26 · 27 Aug 2020

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