Dealing with challenges

The past year has brought a lot of sudden change and disruption for everyone, including children. Whether your child has attended preschool or is starting primary school for the first time, they may experience difficulty settling into normal school routines.

Your child may be feeling:

• excited or happy to return to school and see their friends and teachers again
• nervous or anxious because of changes and new routines
• frustrated and annoyed because they enjoyed the learning from home environment and do not want to return to school.

It’s important to remember that all of these feelings are normal and your child may react differently to others.

Supporting your child

• Monitor how much your child is seeing television or social media stories about the crisis. It can be distressing to watch repeated images. Explain to them that news reports will repeat images and stories and it may not be a good idea to keep watching.
• Talk about your child's understanding of the event and correct misunderstandings or confusion.
• Include your child in making plans for the future.
• Support your child to stay connected to friends.
• Keep to your regular routines and activities as much as possible.