24/01/2026
I did an interview on the ABC Riverland morning show yesterday, about some of the challenges for children heading back to school.
This can generate of a mixture of anxiety and excitement for children, who are heading back to school after 6 weeks of holidays, when the routines mostly go out the window or those days of 'lazing around' end. I'm feeling it too...sigh!
Here are some of the tips I spoke about to make the transition back to school a little easier (hopefully🥹)
- New experiences can feel super scary for kids (and adults🙋♀️). Our brains are designed to keep us safe, so when there is something new that is going to happen, our brain goes into the "what ifs" and things can feel scary, increasing anxiety. Even though most kids will probably be going back to the same school, even this can evoke some big feelings. They will still (most likely) have a new classroom, new teacher, new classmates, etc. This feels big. Have a think about when you...the adult...walks into a room of strangers or into a new space. It feels uncomfortable, doesn't it? Please normalise these feelings for them too. Yes it feels tricky...but those feelings won't last all day. Once they find their friends, teacher or familiar face, their brain will start to feel safe again. For our neurodivergent kiddos, this may take a little longer to feel safe, but hopefully🤞things have been put in place already for a smooth transition into the new classroom.
- Try and get into some kind of routine before Tuesday (earlier bedtime😳(this might take a bit of adjusting, especially for our older kids). Chat about what you DO know, going into the new year. Who are the people they know in their classroom? Remind them about who their teacher is and where their classroom is. Do they remember where the toilet is? If they're older kids, going into high school, maybe they could arrange to meet a friend at a certain place on the first day (there's safety in numbers, right😉). Print out their timetable and have a chat about it, placing a copy on the fridge as a reminder, if they need it (a great idea if you have neurodivergent people in your family).
- Acknowledge the big feelings around returning to school. Try not to diminish these by saying "you'll be ok!". Instead, try "it feels really hard doesn't it?" but remind them that they can do hard things...they've done it before. Maybe give examples like "you found the first day tricky last year, but you were so brave".
- If they're little ones, just starting...in the words of the Maggie Dent, don't oversell it! It's great that it's an exciting time in their lives (mostly for us parents 🤣)but telling them that if they go to school, they'll learn to read, means they might be disappointed they can't read after the first day!! Lol. They will, however, get to see their friends and do some fun things in the classroom.
- With the weather being disgustingly hot this coming week (every day over 40 degrees...up to 48🥵) let them come home and rest for a while before bombarding them with questions about their day. Kids probably won't have the opportunity to play outside at all next week due to hot weather policies, which means no time to 'escape' the noise and busyness of the day. Our neurodivergent kiddos will probably really struggle with this...some kids NEED that quiet time to reset and refill their social batteries. Please🙏give them that space when they get home.
When the first long day is done, and hopefully their big feelings have settled a little, what kids really want is someone to listen to them. We don't have to fix anything (it's hard...I know🤫).
Stay cool😎Drink lots of water🫗and enjoy getting back into routine! I think we're past the part of January where no-one knows what the date is🤪and I am very happy to be getting back into some kind of normality, but I can hear the 'yays' and 'boos' and mixed emotions from parents too about back to school😂
Enjoy the first week back kids (and parents) and I can't wait to hear about all the 'firsts' and the ups and downs of Term 1.
