Healthy Minds @ HIGHVALE

Maintaining Routines Over the School Holidays ✨

Finally! The school holidays have arrived. This is a valuable time for teenagers to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with friends and family. However, letting go of routines entirely can make the return to school feel overwhelming.

The Highvale Wellbeing Team has put together some key reasons for maintaining routines over the break, along with helpful tips to support your teen.

Why Routines Matter 🕒

Teenagers sleep schedules are already in a process of changing and can quickly shift into a later routine, which makes waking up in the morning more difficult.
Keeping a structured routine supports a young person’s mental health, motivation, and positive mood.
Routines help young people to reduce the stress of returning to school by maintaining a healthy body clock and keeping up daily habits.

Helpful Tips ✅

Keep sleep schedules and wake times within 1–2 hours of regular school times. Sleeping in is normal for a teenager, but large shifts in sleep routines can lead to poor sleep and low energy.
Maintain regular mealtimes. Skipping meals or eating at irregular times can affect concentration, energy, and mood.
Incorporate daily activities like movement/exercise, time away from screens, and downtime to rest and recharge.
Limit all-nighters and extended gaming sessions. While gaming and socialising are an important part of a young person’s life, setting limits prevent sleep cycle disruptions and low mood.
Start adjusting routines in the week before school resumes. Begin going to bed earlier and waking up closer to school times.

Final Thoughts 🌿

Holidays are an important time for teenagers to rest, recover from a busy term, and enjoy autonomy. Balancing relaxation with a basic routine will help them return to school feeling more refreshed, calm, and ready to learn.

Warmly,

The Wellbeing Team