Wellbeing
Pandemic Fatigue
See the following link detailing how to help reduce pandemic fatigue and fear in children – mental exhaustion is a potential reality as we delve further into lockdown, with children, teachers and parents all feeling a loss of control and safety. Psych4Schools details useful strategies to support your child to navigate potential feelings of worry and even anxiety.
A great resource from Headspace, through the DET: Tips and strategies for Victorian parents and carers during lockdown.
Connection
With playgrounds closed and playdates currently not permitted, being creative with supporting your child to stay connected is crucial. Some of the ways you might do this are:
- Virtual Playdates: Set up Face Time or Zoom sessions for your children to say hello. For the younger children, having a common activity that they are doing parallel to each other helps (e.g. lego construction)
- Virtual playground: Link your children up at lunch time to sit and eat together
- Virtual parties: Karaoke; Kahootz quizzes are great activities for children to Zoom into with each other.
- Pen Pals: Get your children writing to the people they miss most – a great opportunity for authentic writing!
- RAK: Encourage your child to do random acts of kindness (mystery package arrivals within your 5km is a great way to make everyone feel loved).
Last week we got our Boogie Shoes on; This week we connected over our favourite books; Stay tuned to Compass for how BBPS is building community connection next week!
Additional Support
With observations across the world of increased levels of anxiety in children, you might be considering accessing additional psychological services to support your family during this time. Psychologists across the board are busy, with many having waiting lists. To access services see your GP for a Mental Health Plan. Some recommendations in our area are (and please feel free to reach out to Kim Ancrum to discuss this further):
*OnPsych- Renate Hoffman is our onsite counsellor, who works from within our school every second Thursday. To access contact forms, please contact Kim at brighton.beach.ps@education.vic.gov.au
*4Thought, Brighton East- we often refer families to this organisation, a great support. Its worth putting your name on the waiting list for them.
9530 8773 info@4thoughtpsychology.com
*Nepean Psychology, Reserve Road Cheltenham - currently has shorter waiting lists.
9585 2645 www.nepeanpsychology.com.au
Message from Bayside City Council
In light of current lockdown restrictions closing skateparks, basketball courts and playgrounds, Bayside City Council has launched a new social media campaign, Stay Active.
During the lockdown, we will be sharing young people’s stories and creative ways that they are staying active on our social media channels. The goal is to encourage their peers to think of new ways to be active in lockdown and to celebrate the resilience of young people in Bayside during these times.
It is open to all young people in Bayside, for those under 18 we will require parental information to share their images on our social media sites. We encourage students and teachers to submit photos, videos and stories of how they are staying active to inspire their peers. If you would like us to tag your school or sports group in the post, please let us know via email.
https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/show-us-how-youre-staying-active-during-lockdown
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask us at youth_services@bayside.vic.gov.au or on 9599 4622 and thank you for your ongoing support.
Warm regards,
Emma Pristov