Supporting Student Wellbeing During Covid Uncertainty
Many of us thought that 2022 would be back to normal and that restrictions would no longer be around, unfortunately, this is not the case.
We know the mask announcement may cause some stress, anxiety and fear for some children and adolescents. It’s important for adults to recognise these emotions and allow the child or adolescent to talk openly about what they are feeling. Each person processes stress differently and it’s important we honour those feelings and help them understand the reasons why changes have been made – which in essence is to protect themselves and other people from the Covid-19 virus. It is important we look at masks as a protective measure for all members of the community, a way of keeping us all healthy and safe during the winter.
We know there is a level of fatigue amongst students and the School community regarding Covid-19, and the constant uncertainty has impacted student wellbeing the past two and a half years. Hume Anglican Grammar ensures teachers are provided with the most current student wellbeing research regarding managing stress management, building resilience and improving learning outcomes using educational neuroscience.
On Monday, 11 July I ran a staff professional development day on Supporting student wellbeing in a post Covid-19 classroom for all teachers across the three campuses. During the sessions we used educational neuroscience and research from Dr Bruce Perry to look at stress and how it impacts the brain and learning in the classroom. We also looked at supporting students in the Secondary school with mental health issues and how to develop social and emotional skills in the Primary school. Teachers were given preventative and proactive strategies for managing student stress in the classroom to increase wellbeing and learning outcomes.
School TV released a special report in June on Building Resilience in Post Pandemic with Michael Carr Gregg. It has the 7Cs of Resilience which parents can follow to build resilience in children. I encourage parents to click on the link to access all resources SPECIAL REPORT: Building Resilience Post Pandemic | Hume Anglican Grammar (schooltv.me).
As always, please speak to your child’s Homeroom teacher if you have any concerns about their wellbeing.