Dear Parents and Students!

The beginning of the 2020/2021 school year is tomorrow. Our psychologist Karolina has prepared an article in which you will find tips to help in the upcoming challenges.

Enjoy!

Back to School - New Challenges

 The last few months have been quite challenging for children as well as for teachers and parents. The transition to remote learning, uncertainty about the future and changing information about returning to school certainly caused a number of emotions.

Starting a new school year and returning to regular classes can be a difficult time for many students. While many are probably happy and excited to see their classmates again and to return to traditional education, there will also be some of them who will feel confused and anxious about the new conditions and the anticipated epidemiological consequences.

In such difficult moments, it is worth asking oneself: “What is the most difficult for me in this situation? What is the worst thing that could happen? What makes me feel this way? ” When we are afraid of something, emotions such as fear or anxiety arise naturally. By anticipating and considering various scenarios of events and the possibilities of their solutions, it will be easier to find yourself in a situation when one of the scenarios will actually happen.

Dear Parents! To provide even better support for your children, it is good to focus on a few aspects:

• Talk to your child about how he or she feels about going back to school - be understanding and supportive for arising emotions. Ask your child what triggers their emotions and how you can help them cope with them.
• Talk about the current situation and the limitations of the pandemic - ask about concerns about the current situation and possible precautionary measures taken at school that will be introduced during a regular education
• Plan your mornings - establish a new morning routine, daily schedule, or wake-up time with your child to ease the morning tension. Think about the situations that cause a tense atmosphere and try to find solutions.
• Be patient - returning to "normal" learning can be frustrating, might require flexibility and re-adjusting to new realities. Be patient and give children a space to adapt.

Coming back to school and new rules require a new adaptation. Uncertainty is an integral part of the process of change - information of the current epidemiological situation is being updated on a daily basis, and the rules of social coexistence are constantly changing. Despite the perceived discomfort, we need to learn to function in the new conditions, so it is worth preparing in advance for possible scenarios. Having strategies and potential solutions, we will be less surprised in case of further changes and it will be easier to adapt to new conditions.