Positive Behaviour for Learning

Tips to cope with the transition back to school!

Have a happy and stress free term 3!

The end of term often arrives with excitement and relief – but also exhaustion and big emotions. Moving from the structure of school into weeks of free times feels liberating, but for some children, it can also be overwhelming. Likewise coming back to school can seem overwhelming to some!

 To make things a little easier, start adjusting your child’s bedtime and wake up times gradually in the week.

One great way to do this is to start bringing bedtime earlier in 15- pr 20-minute increments, particularly if their bedtime has gotten progressively later throughout the holidays. At the same time, start bringing their wake up time progressively forward in a similar time increment. 

Small changes over several days are easier and kinder to everyone than a single hard reset.

Re-establish your morning and evening routines

This works hand-in-hand with our previous tip, but it’s important to set it out separately because routines act as a scaffold for our children’s sense of comfort and safety. And this is important in times of change, such as the transition back to school.

 Reintroducing the school morning routine, for example, ‘breakfast, teeth, get dressed, pack bag, out the door’. You can also introduce an evening wind down routine as well. 

Some other routines you can focus on might be regular mealtimes, your ‘get ready’ checklist, laundry and bed making chores and the like. 

Whatever routines will support your child to feel prepared and confident on their first day back at school are a great idea as they’ll help reduce first-day chaos while also supporting emotional regulation. 

Have good communication around the transition back to school

Talking about the return to school openly is a great way to ease nerves and prepare kids for the transition. You can (and should) invite genuine, unpressured conversations. 

You might ask, ‘What are you looking forward to when you head back to school?’ ‘Is there anything that’s worrying you?’ Or ‘What’s something you hope will happen this year?’

If your child needs a bit more support in knowing what to expect you can use a visual planner to map out what the first week will look like, and if you’re transitioning into a new school head over for a walk around the campus if you can. These can help to ease school anxiety and jitters. 

Prepare practical logistics early

A lot of stress comes from last minute scrambling. Looking for the lost shoe, packing the school bag and filling water bottles. It’s a great idea to get ahead of these problems by preparing practical logistics early. 

Check that all the uniforms still fit, pack the school bag (or pack up the book pack in carrying bags), ensure everything is labelled with your child’s name, confirm timetables for sports or clubs and let your child know who will be dropping them off or picking them up and where (or if they’ll be walking or taking the bus, ensure they know how to do that). 

All of this practical preparation will reduce the mental load and emotional overwhelm and make for a much smoother transition on the day. 

Expect an adjustment period

Even with all the best preparation, the first week or two (or maybe even three) may be tricky. Your child may be far more tired than usual or clingy and may experience a lot of emotional ups and downs. This is normal. 

Try to be extra patient and give support and rest time where and when it’s needed. And remember, your child will take their cues from you. If you project calm, positivity and awareness of how you’re feeling, they will too, and this will promote feelings of safety as well.