St Pius X College Newsletter

From the Counselling Team 

  • Welcome
  • Supporting Students with Back to School Anxiety

Welcome

Welcome to the 2023 school year at Pius.  

The College Counselling Team are available to provide confidential emotional and social support and guidance for your son and family.  

For reference our College Counselling Team contact details are shown below.

 

Parents are encouraged to reach out to the Counselling Team via the counselling email of scounselling@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au .

 

Mr Rick Russo (Currently on leave)

Counsellor (Tuesday to Friday) working with students across all year groups.

Email:  rrusso@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au 

Direct Phone:  9414 4359

 

Mrs Joe McCarthy

Psychologist (Monday to Thursday) working with students across all year groups.

Email:  jmccarthy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au 

Direct Phone:  9414 4322   

 

Mrs Judy Gill

Psychologist (Monday, Tuesday and Friday) working with students across all year groups.

Email:  jgill@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au 

Direct Phone:  9414 4315

 

Throughout 2023 the Counselling Team, together with the Diverse Learning Team, look forward to providing CONFIDENTIAL support to assist your son to build his SELF CONFIDENCE / SELF ESTEEM AND RESILIENCE within a caring, supportive Catholic school community.  Please do not hesitate to make contact with any of the above team should the need arise.

Supporting Students with Back to School Anxiety

The start of the new school year is exciting for many kids, but it is also natural to prompt a spike in anxiety, especially following the difficult times we’ve all shared in with Covid interruptions to schooling and life in general. For most students the 'new school year' worries will fade and the anxious behaviours will be transient. The goal for parents is to be supportive without exacerbating your child’s worries. Here are tips for helping the more ‘nervous’ students have a successful transition back to school.

  • Try to ensure you are not passing on your own stress.  To enable you to manage your own stress, it’s important to try not to take on more commitments than the family can handle comfortably. 
  • When children/young people express anxiety about going to school - whether related to a new teacher/s, an increase in homework, making a team, a friendship crisis - do listen. Rather than dismissing these fears (“Nothing to be worried about!", "You’ll be fine!") listening to them and acknowledging your child’s feelings will help them feel more secure. And if they want to, you can bolster their confidence by helping them strategise about how to handle things they’re concerned about.
  • Do keep in mind that children and especially adolescents often want to be able to talk about something they’re upset about without expecting you to fix it. Your job is to validate their feelings (“I know that’s hard.”) and demonstrate confidence that they can handle the situation.
  • Try to keep home calm and organised, establish some routines around getting organised the night before school. 
  • Focus on the simple things- everyone getting enough sleep, eating well, connecting and doing some exercise.
  • The most important thing a parent can do when their child resists going to school is to continue encouraging them to school anyway (provided there is nothing medically affecting their attendance). This may be difficult, but if we allow children to avoid situations that make them anxious, we can inadvertently reinforce that those situations are indeed dangerous or scary.
  • If a child’s resistance to school is overwhelming and prolonged, they should be evaluated by a mental health professional, and it’s good to be proactive rather than waiting months for it to pass. Unfortunately, the longer a child misses school, the harder it is to get back in the routine, because being absent reinforces the anxiety that is keeping them away.
  • If your child needs extra support to make a successful transition, let someone at school know - their Homeroom teacher, Year Coordinator, or the School Counselling Team. We are here to work together with you to support your child make a successful transition into the new school year. 

Ms Joe McCarthy, College Counsellor