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Stress and Anxiety Management - Coronavirus

Thu 26 Mar 2020 Jennifer Howell

Advice for Parents on Ways to

Manage Anxiety and Stress

During the Coronavirus Outbreak Stress and Coping

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emo-tions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations

How you respond to the outbreak can depend on your background, the things that make you different from other people, and the community you live in.

For Parents

Children and teens react, in part, on what they see from the adults around them. When parents and caregivers deal with the COVID-19 calmly and confi-dently, they can provide the best support for their children. Parents can be more reassuring to others around them, especially children, if they are better prepared.

Not all children and teens respond to stress in the same way. Some common changes to watch for include:

Excessive crying or irritation in younger children
Returning to behaviours they have outgrown (for example, toileting acci-dents or bedwetting)
Excessive worry or sadness
Unhealthy eating or sleeping habits
Irritability and “acting out” behaviour’s in teens
Avoiding school work
Difficulty with attention and concentration
Avoidance of activities enjoyed in the past
Unexplained headaches or body pain

There are many things you can do to support your child

Take time to talk with your child or teen about the COVID-19 outbreak. Answer questions and share facts about COVID-19 in a way that your child or teen can understand.
Reassure your child or teen that they are safe. Let them know it is ok if they feel upset. Share with them how you deal with your own stress so that they can learn how to cope from you.
Limit your family’s exposure to news coverage of the event, including so-cial media. Children may misinterpret what they hear and can be fright-ened about something they do not understand.
Try to keep up with regular routines. Whilst schools are closed, create a schedule for learning activities and relaxing or fun activities.
Be a role model. Take breaks, get plenty of sleep, exercise, and eat well. Connect with your friends and family members.

If there is any novelty to staying home, it will likely wear off quickly. Your children may not like their new setup, but you can assure them that millions of children around the world are in the same boat. Assure them, too, that you are there to support them.

Discussing that there are many “normal” emotional responses to a crisis, including fear, confusion, anger, guilt, shame, humiliation, grief, and sorrow. Children may feel these at different times, and that’s okay. Remind them that others, including their teachers and parents, may be feeling some of that. It’s a good time for self-compassion and compassion for others—a lesson that will hopefully stick with them long after this particular crisis has passed.

🐶Dave the Dog is Worried about Coronavirus🐶

A nurse has written a book to help children feeling worried about the coronavirus outbreak.

Molly Watts, an intensive care nurse at Southampton Children's Hospital, wrote the online picture book Dave the Dog Is Worried About Coronavirus after a nightshift last week.

The free book has been downloaded 15,000 times and some schools have shared the link with parents.

Ms Watts said she wanted to give children "information without fear".

Click here order to access her book if you would like to share it with your children.

Emergency Childcare Provision

Sun 22 Mar 2020 Jennifer Howell

Our Emergency Childcare Provision should only be used by vulnerable children and children of ‘Key Workers’ when absolutely necessary.

The advice from the government is to keep your child at home, if it is safe to do so.

We are happy to support our parents who are critical workers in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, we ask that you help us to help you - we need to keep the minimum number of children in school, so that we can deploy the minimum number of our staff to care for them.

Thank you for your support and understanding

#StayHomeSaveLives

SCHOOL CLOSURE

Fri 20 Mar 2020 Jennifer Howell

A confirmation that sadly we will now be CLOSED to the majority of our children.

Those children who have been identified as having parents who are 'key workers', or are in the vulnerable category have had information sent to them via email. If you have not received this, but think you should have, please let us know.

Home learning will be available for all children on our website from Monday morning.

In these uncertain times, it is important to support one another; please continue to follow the government advice as it is given.

We hope all of our families, staff, and wider community are able to come through this safe and well.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: UK SCHOOL CLOSURES

Thu 19 Mar 2020 Jennifer Howell

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As you will have heard in the news, the government have announced that schools across the UK will close on Friday to the majority of pupils. We are working hard to clarify the details of this, and what this will mean for our pupils, parents and staff.

We will inform parents when we have more clear information.

Thank you for your understanding and support in these difficult and confusing times.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Thu 12 Mar 2020 Jennifer Howell

🦠Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update🦠

As you may be aware, the Government will be holding a meeting today to discuss further developments in the Coronavirus outbreak. We have had a number of parents contacting school today, to ask whether we will be closing.

I would like to confirm that as of yet, there are no immediate plans to close the school. We are receiving regular updates from the Local Authority, as well as the DfE; and we will continue to follow the advice given.

Of course, if the situation changes and the decision is made close the school, we will inform parents as soon as possible via text message (priority 1 contacts), email, our school website, and our school Facebook page.

Thank you for your continued support.