Mental Health & Wellbeing

At times your child/ren may have a range of feelings about coming to school. Some children may feel anxious, nervous or scared. While others may feel excited and delighted. Sometimes children can feel a mix of these feelings. It is important to remember that 'All feelings are OK.' Below are some suggestions of how you can help your child/ren when they require support with navigating feelings.

• Give your child space to talk about their feelings. You may choose to set aside one to one time so they can share their feelings or casually discuss feelings while going for a drive or playing a game.
• Validate your child's feelings by reflecting back to them what you have heard. 
• You may discuss where they feel the feeling in their body, such as butterflies in the tummy, little aches, difficulty sleeping etc. Naming the connection between body experience and feelings helps your child understand themselves and their reactions to feelings.
• Some children may prefer to draw their feelings rather than talk about it.
• Picture books are a great resource. Below is a small sample. You can pick them up at the local library, op shops, etc or if you can borrow some from the school library.