As we head into the last term of a school year, we start to think and talk about transitions. We have many cohorts at Beaconsfield Primary School that we support in transition – kinder kids to Prep, students within our school to a new year level and our grade 6 students into secondary school. We all know that change is inevitable, and it can impact us all differently.
We hope that people embrace it and see it as a time of celebration, as they have achieved to move on and ready for the next challenges. For some people, it comes more easily and they have the resilience to deal with it well. This is what we hope for all our students and families. As teachers, we have supported our students throughout the year to deal with challenges and worked with them on strategies to support their mental wellbeing.
Here are some suggestions to support your child through change:
- Make sure that you are talking about their next stage in a positive way – how exciting, you are ready, this is a good thing, you can do this.
- Be mindful of how much you talk about it – sometimes it might be too much.
- Support your child to see what they can control. Some things are not in their control so there is no need to worry about it. They need to trust the process and they will be able to deal with the outcome.
- Be mindful of how you as their parent are feeling about it as you are their role model. If you are nervous or anxious, this is contagious and your child might be ‘catching’ your emotions.
- Take moments to check in with your child as to how they are feeling and see if they are able to state what they are wondering or concerned about. Answer their questions honestly and if you don’t know what the answer is, try problem solving as to how you find out the solution – who could we ask?
This term, our grade 3 to 6 students have had the wonderful experience of camp. Our students have left their families to stay away from home to be with their friends, teachers and parent helpers to experience the excitement of new opportunities. For many of our students, they embrace the chance to try new things and be out of their comfort zone. What great mental wellbeing our young children display! Whilst some might be challenged with some of the experiences, our staff and parent helpers feel so privileged to be there to support them through it and be there to celebrate their success.
A student’s take on their experience of camp…
“At camp Coolamatong, the staff reminded us of the value of respect and gratitude, which was their theme. Most of the activities at camp involved teamwork, for example one of the activities, we had to move some tyres using certain rules, and respect played into that as you needed to respect each other’s opinions. My favourite activity at camp was the boat trip because we went to the beach and played games. Camp was a great experience, the bonding with friends, activities and the food made it the best”. – Dom, Grade 6
Enjoy the summer.
Heidi Inglis
Principal
Beaconsfield Primary School
