Supporting Children to adjust to a new school year

Starting a new school year can be a time of excitement and nerves. Big feelings can often emerge as children process and adjust to their new environment and kids can often become more emotional and more tired during this time of transition.

Families and schools can work together to support children in making a smooth transition into the new school year.  Parents and caregivers play a big role in helping kids to feel supported to try their best, to navigate challenges and to solve problems when they crop up.

If emotions start to run high during this time, below are some tips to support kids to adjust and embrace this new beginning.

• Make time each day to hear about your child’s day. Ask open ended questions and show an interest in their experiences and discoveries during their day.  Demonstrate excitement and interest in the new experiences they are having. 
• Praise your child for trying and celebrate success.
• Support your child to form positive relationships with peers and with their teacher.
• Make time for some quiet down time each day. Processing new experiences can be tiring.  Where possible, slow down other commitments to allow for some recuperation and some free play.
• Create an environment in which it’s okay to talk about not just the highs in a day but also the challenges. Support your child to believe in their ability to overcome hurdles and let them know it’s okay to ask for help if they need it.
• Talk about your own learning with your child. Share with them what you are currently learning about and discuss your own thinking about how you plan to face challenges and solve problems.
• If your child is feeling overwhelmed or nervous about the new year, help them to reflect on times they have faced change in the past.
  • Reflect with your child about what helped before and use this as evidence that they can do it again.
  • Discuss times you yourself may have felt uncertain or unsure in a new environment and reflect with your child the things that helped you.

Each time that we face new challenges and beginnings, we grow in our resilience and our self-belief.  As children navigate these new experiences, demonstrating our belief in their ability to succeed will further support them to feel able to step into new environments. 

For more information about supporting children to engage in school, the below article provides some further helpful tips or please contact your school counsellors Bron and Ryoko if you feel your child could benefit from any further support. 

What you can do at home Parental engagement in primary school (act.gov.au)