Top 10 ways you can make the return to school as stress free as possible

children learning about IT

As a mother of two and an experienced primary school teacher I have been on both sides of the door for the return to school.

I understand the stress it can cause with the build of emotions and anticipatory anxiety. Here are some top tips to help you and your children to feel calmer.

1. Prepare- Once you have the uniform sorted make sure you have it arranged and laid out the night before, also leaving shoes, coats, water bottle ready by the door to avoid that morning panic.

2. Create a photo folder on your phone called “Class Letters” as you receive the many letters from school throughout the year, you can take a photo of the letters and save them into this folder to avoid misplacing them and you can find them quickly.

3. Label EVERYTHING jumpers, coats shoes, water bottles… label it all…everything other than your child’s forehead. You can now purchase stickers with your child’s name on to make life easier, just make sure you get ones that are for longevity that won’t come off in the wash.

4.  If your what’s app group for your new class is constantly beeping and you are feeling overwhelmed with it all but need to get straight to the important messages. Hold down the relevant message (including the information you  want to refer back to) you will have the option to “star” it, this will save that particular message under ‘starred’ messages, so you can find it quickly and easily in the future without having to scroll back through 100 messages.

5. Try to start getting back into the school routine a few days before the start date, with earlier nights for the children, so you don’t have to endure the “I don’t want to go to bed now!” the night before starting school.

6. If your child has new school shoes it’s a good idea to get them to start wearing them in so their feet can get used to it and avoid any unnecessary discomfort. If you have run out of time then just bring some thick plasters with you in the car, ideally pop these in there now ahead of time.

7. Talk to your child before the start date about how the first morning back to school will go, reminding them about the motions you will all need to go through to ensure everyone feels happy and not rushing to school… or at least to stand a better chance.

8. Don’t worry! If you have not yet managed to get the full PE kit teachers will understand… it’s unlikely they will have PE on the first day back, and even if they do teachers should allow a little more time for you to get any final bits together.

9. For really little ones it’s a great idea to walk past the school that they will be joining so they can see where they will be going as well as just speaking about it, making it become a reality.

10. Breathe! It’s always a build up of emotions for the parents as well as our little ones, but everything will fall into place it always does. Wishing all of the children and parents/carers the very best of luck for your next chapter.

Gemma BergAbout the author

My name is Gemma Berg, 37 years old from Essex, I have taught as a primary school teacher for over 9 years, I now run Peekaboo Learning supporting parents with their children’s learning and working 1-1 with primary school children focussing on their emotional well-being so they can become confident and happy learners.

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