Deputy Principal, Wellbeing
It has been fantastic to be onsite at both campuses to see and hear the students back again!
I have spoken with many year levels about the return to school and the wave of emotions that they may experience over the coming weeks. My advice is to acknowledge the emotion; nervousness, excitement, frustration or happiness and to be comfortable recognising and then sitting with that feeling. I have also spoken about looking after our friends, noticing what is happening for others and lending a hand where possible. I can’t express the importance of sleep and a healthy sleep routine to students, even heading to bed an hour earlier each night over the coming weeks will make a huge difference as students readjust to bus travel and much longer days attending school. The link below may offer you some practical tips around establishing a routine for sleep:
https://headspace.org.au/assets/Factsheets/HSP225-Sleep-Fact-Sheet-DP3.pdf
Another program which may be helpful for parents with students having difficulties with anxiety or persistent worries is a program called “Fear-Less Triple P Program.” The aim of the free online program is to help children manage anxiety and to become more emotionally resilient. It might be of interest to you and worth a look:
Finally, I saw this graphic about ‘The Emotional Cup’ during the holidays, I think that although it is aimed at children, many of the cup-fillers and emptying factors can apply across all age groups. With this period of re-adjusting and re-settling it will be important to focus on the factors that can fill all of our emotional cups.
Kate Couchman
Student Counsellor