Did you realise that students across the country may well have been physically home for longer than they usually are over the summer holidays by the time they go back to school this term? So where to now with going back to school after learning @ home?
This is a discussion I have been having with many students and parents in the past few weeks as we have learned when our children will be going back to school. Some have already started and others will be doing so in the coming weeks ahead. With the transition back to school most students are excited to finally be able to see their friends! However for others there are going to be challenges and only recently have I been in touch with a few schools to discuss putting plans into place to assist a few of my students with this. Many students are feeling anxious & nervous about going back and it is, as it has been during these crazy times, important to recognise these feelings rather than dismissing them in order to help. Wellbeing has and will continue to be the number one focus for students (& families) and it is important to know there are supports in place at schools and other resources to assist.
Now is a good time, if you haven’t already, to check in with your children to see how they are doing and feeling about going back to school. Things to be doing include:
- start having a discussion about going back to school and keeping the conversation as normal as you can rather than making a massive deal of it.
- work with your children to get them back into their normal routines around sleep and waking up (I know many including my own will struggle with this if left until the day of school starting back).
start getting the uniforms, school bags, lunchboxes cleaned and ready to go.- get your children out of the house and back into society (particularly important if they haven’t been out a lot in the past few months) even just for a few walks. It can even be useful to go for a drive or walk past the school a few times.
- discuss how school won’t be the same as it has been and that there will be many new ways of doing things (these will be communicated to them from the school in due course but will focus on social distancing and sanitising). I know for my son we recently had the discussion around no excursions being in place for the time being as he is still hoping to do an activity he missed out on when this all started.
- work out how they will get to and from school and what are some of the things they can do to keep social distancing in place.
- discuss with them the importance of getting back into similar routines (or for some better routines) than they had before about going to school, coming home and completing homework, keeping track of tasks, doing study and revision, the use of technology etc. It is a good opportunity to get routines up and running & working again before all the other extra curricular activities start up too.
- most of all reassure your children that everyone is working together to make this work and will be focusing on everyone’s safety as best they can.
It is also important to highlight that school will not be the same as it was before they moved to learning @ home and everyone will need to get used to the new NORM (whatever that may be) and live with that moving forward as best we can. Please continue to keep talking to your children through this transition and check in with them to see how they are going and how they are feeling along the way.
I would like to say a very big thank you to all the educators for all they have and continue to do for our students in these crazy times. Well done also to students and parents too for your assistance in the move to learning @ home too. Let’s continue to work and support one another in this transition process back to school something like learning @ home that we have not had to navigate like this before.
Let’s hope ALL Australians, keep doing what is needed to keep everyone safe, so our children can be back at school for good and not having to go back and forward to learning @ home in the months ahead! However, as the NSW Premier said in her press conference announcing going back to school, it is likely that over time schools will need to close due to outbreaks and students might well need to go back to learning @ home for periods of time. Unfortunately this will be something we need to deal with in learning to live with Covid 19. Best wishes to you and your family for a smooth transition back!
If I can assist you or your child with this transition, or in general when it comes to their organisation, time management and study skills, please don’t hesitate to get in touch to learn more – you can send me an email or give me a call – 0409 967 166.
