Wellbeing

The Warrnambool College Wellbeing team have provided a staged response for parents/carers when discussing return to school with their student. The focus of the points at the beginning, are conversational as to how the student may be feeling about their return to face-to-face teaching. The focus of the information towards the end of the page is for parents/carers who become aware that their student is overly anxious about returning to school and school refusing is becoming a possibility.

1. Role model confidence. Confidence is contagious. Tackle a task with optimism. Don’t pretend to be perfect. Acknowledge your anxiety if you are concerned about your student/s returning to school, don’t focus on it—focus on the positive things you are doing to get ready. Early action can help prevent behaviours becoming long term habits.
2. Find time: Sit and have a conversation with your teen about their worries and concerns with returning to school. Ask direct questions. Model effective communication and problem solve at home to encourage returning to school.
3. Strategies: Teach your teen relaxation skills and practice together when you are calm, anything you can do to calm your body- slow breath in, slow breath out. Let your breath bring you home. Bring your focus in to the moment and notice what you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste in the room.
4. Create a plan: Explore ways to manage the beginning of the day and break the day into segments. Set morning and evening routines. Make home seem less appealing, reducing screen time and focusing on homework, jobs around the house, discourage them from refusing school.
5. Set goals and celebrate effort. Make goals with your teen that are small and achievable, so they are set to succeed and celebrate the effort. Start with wearing the uniform if that is required and for them to notice how they feel using a breathing technique. Slowly increase the goals to bigger ones
6. Rewards: Work together on the plan with small rewards for returning and if unable to return due to anxiety, reward is not given, and something is removed i.e.; screen time (all negotiated together). This is to continue until returning to school.
7. Don’t enable the behaviour: Ask yourself ‘What am I really protecting them from? Am I protecting them from a real threat (having all the evidence that we have), or thoughts, feelings and physiology that come with anxiety? Will my next move build their world or shrink it? Will it grow them, or hold them back?
8. Speak to the school: Developing a collaborative plan between staff, student and parents that is clear and well understood can be a useful tool to address school refusal.
9. External support: Consider professional support to assist them with strategies to help better understand the underlying reasons for school refusal if unable to get your student back to school.
10. Self-Care: Look after yourself. Caring for school refusers is stressful and causes a lot of worry and anxiety. By doing this you are modelling good self-care.