CHPS Newsletter

Wellbeing & Culture

Respectful Relationships

This term students at CHPS will be learning about positive coping in Respectful Relationships. Just like we need to help children to learn to identify and express their feelings, we need to teach them how to manage and cope with them. 

Coping skills are strategies we use to manage feelings and handle stress. It is important that as parents and teachers we support students to develop their inner strength, positive self-talk strategies and resilience that allows them to put one foot in front of the other when they feel like giving up. 

Different coping strategies work differently for different people. It is important to expose students to a range of different coping strategies to ensure they find a good fit for them. It is also important to allow children to practise these regularly, with support if required.  In order for a child to use coping strategies to calm themselves when they are overwhelmed, we want them to be able to draw upon these automatically.  Exposing children to multiple strategies is also very important, as one strategy isn’t going to work for everyone.  Some coping strategies we love include: 

  • Breathing exercises- taking slow breaths is one way for your body to communicate to your brain that you are safe and it is okay to calm down. 
  • Mindfulness- mindfulness strategies are all about being ‘present’ and connecting with one or more of your 5 senses. This helps your mind to be present in the moment and overcome stresses and worries we might have. 
  • Get creative- Our brains love being creative. Putting focus and energy into creative things like writing, dancing, music and art can help alter your brainwaves and create different mental and emotional states. 
  • Talk to someone you trust- sometimes talking things through with a trusted adult can help to look at situations from different perspectives, provide children with a safe space and new strategies they can use. 
  • Active strategies- moving your body is a great way for kids to get out their excess energy when they’re nervous and to boost their mood when they are feeling down. 

(https://www.thepathway2success.com/coping-strategies-every-child-teen-should-know/)