Wellbeing
A message from Emily Murcott - Assistant Principal / Wellbeing Literacy Leader
As the end of the year draws near, it is a time to recognise that there is a lot of change happening for your child. Possibly new classroom, new classmates, new teacher, new timetables, and perhaps moving into a new building. There are a lot of feelings and emotions, and we need to be ready to support the end of year transitions.
For some children, this can stir up a whirlwind of emotions and fatigue, leading to overwhelming moments. When they are more resilient, they won’t let these challenges get them down. Instead, they can use coping strategies, overcome problems and try to make the best of their situation. The younger your child is the more support they will need from you.
As a parent, you play a crucial role in supporting your kids through this period, ensuring they sail through these changes with resilience and a smile. Your response to the news of class allocation, class location, or class teacher will impact their response and their ability to see how this change can be beneficial. Your child may need your support to identify that they will meet and make even more friends, that the classroom is closer to the playground s/he likes to play on, you have heard that their new teacher is kind and caring.Below, child psychologists and early intervention specialists share some practical tips for parents to help ease the end-of-year rush to support their resilience.
Establish Consistent Routines
Maintaining consistent routines during this transitional period can provide a sense of security and stability for your child. While schedules may be altered due to year-end events, when you strive to uphold regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and play times you build a sense of security for your child. The consistency you maintain at home will foster predictability, and this reduces stress and anxiety for children of all ages.
Keep Communication Channels Open
Each week between now and the holidays, have open conversations with your child about the changes that are coming up. When you create a safe space for them to express their feelings, concerns, and excitement you will also get forewarning about any situations that could potentially overwhelm them. Acknowledge their emotions and validate their experiences, assuring them that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed or tired. (After all, we ALL feel a bit this way at the end of the year, don’t we?)
Balance Rest and Play
Find a balance between rest and play is essential for everyone, not matter how old they may be. Ensure your child gets adequate sleep to recharge their energy levels. Engage in calming activities such as reading, drawing, or gentle play to unwind after busy days at school or preschool. This helps them to regulate their emotions and prevents burnout (at their end and yours!)
Break Tasks into Manageable Parts
When managing end-of-year tasks or events, break them into smaller, manageable steps. It’s natural for your child to feel a little weary right now, and so you might find that they need more help at this end of the year than they did at the start. As you guide your child through these steps, visual supports like pictures or lists written on a whiteboard can be a helpful way to provide gentle support. When you reduce the number of verbal instructions you give, your child’s chances of success will increase.
Prepare for Transitions
Prepare your child for transitions by discussing what to expect. Whether it’s the transition from one grade to the next at primary school or transitioning from primary school to secondary school kids really benefit from getting a taste of what next year will be like.
As a school orientation day will support their transition into their new grade, level, building, teacher. If you feel your child would benefit from a visual social story, please reach out to Wendy and let her know so we can add your child to the list.
A social story will have a picture of your child’s new teacher, a picture of the classroom that they will be in and is something that students can refer to during the holidays to reaffirm them what class, and class teacher they will have next year.
Be Present and Patient
December is a busy time of year and it’s easy to get caught up in end-of-year ‘must do’ activities at home, work, school and preschool. During this time, your child will benefit from the extra doses of patience and presence you provide. Take a step back from distractions and dedicate quality time to connect with your child. Showing empathy and understanding will not only nurture their emotional well-being, but also reduce their tendency to have a tantrum.
A TASK FOR THE ADULTS
As I drove into school this morning, I heard Jase and Lauren (Nova 100) talking about taking this festive time of year to connect with those you have lost contact with over the years. I LOVED IT!!
I am therefore challenging everyone reading this to be BRAVE and reach out to someone you have lost contact with over the years. Give them a phone call, drop them a letter, send them an email or just pop over and surprise them.
Make it a happy occasion, share your positives, your accomplishments or the memories you share. Have a belly laugh, share photos and hopefully if all goes well…stay in touch. Who is it that you will reconnect with?
I will do this myself and share how it went in the next newsletter.
Information shared above can be found from: