The Health and Well-being, Parent and Carers Support and Psychological Services teams have been busy working with the Parent and Carer Support Collaborative to produce training and resources to support the well-being of parents, carers, children, young people.
We all want to help children and young people make as smooth a transition as possible back into school and to feel safe and happy there. These tips have been developed as a resource for parents and carers to use to support themselves and their children to become more resilient and develop the skills needed to cope with challenging times.
The tips have been designed to complement the Building Resilience primary and secondary school resource. The themed units engage pupils, families and staff in raising awareness and understanding of 10 protective factors for our mental health and well-being. These protective factors have been drawn from key research around mental health and emotional well-being.
Your Child: Support your child to contact a friend from school, chat online or spend some time together before the start of term. For children who may find this difficult, help plan an activity or discuss ideas of what they could talk about.
Think of ways your child can feel connected to you when they return to school, E.g. give them a picture, a written message or a familiar object that they can take with them in their pocket or bag. Schools will give advice on what your child can bring with them initially.
You: Arrange to meet or call a friend or another parent, have a chat and share your plans for returning to school. Suggest walking to school together or arrange to meet up after school starts.
Together: Share anything important that has happened during lockdown with school at the start of term- let them know about any family changes, positive achievements or challenges experienced. Your child may want to draw a picture or take a photo of something positive they have done to share with a staff member or their friends.
We are sure many families will be starting to make plans to help with the return to school. We hope you find these Back to School Tips useful.
Your Child: Encourage your child to think of ways they can be kind to others and pay attention and praise your child when you notice them doing this. “It was kind of you to… share with your friend/ include them in your group at break”
Children learn by watching others- show or tell your child ways you have been kind to others. For example, “I had a chat with our neighbour, she looked a bit sad.”
You: Notice other parents on their own in and around the school, you never know who may welcome a friendly greeting or chat.
Above all, be kind to yourself. We’ve all been through exceptional circumstances.
For more information about going Back to School and supporting your own and your child’s wellbeing visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/backtoschool
Currie Primary School 
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