📚️Back to School Tips - Summer Holiday Support📚️

Mary_Scope

Part One - Summer Holiday Support Series Introduction
Part Two - Accessible Days Out for Parents and & Carers of Disabled Children
Part Three - Keep Routine At Home in the Summer Holidays
Part Four - Sensory Friendly and Accessible School Uniforms (Where To Buy)
Part Five - Parent & Carer Wellbeing and Mental Health in the Summer Holidays
Part Six - Emotionally Preparing Your Child To Go Back to School

Well...the summer holidays have come to a close, how have you found it?

As school is starting in a few days, this will be the final post in the summer holiday support series. I hope you have found it useful!

But I thought we would wrap things up by sharing some realistic and practical ways to ease back into the first days (and weeks!) of the school routine.

• Keep Mornings Calm, Not Perfect

It’s okay if things feel messy or rushed. It may be helpful to try creating a short, repeatable morning routine such as “breakfast, toothbrush, dress etc” to give your child predictability. Visual strategies such as a now and next board or a visual timetable or even timers can be really helpful here.

• Expect After School Tiredness

The school day can be physically, mentally and emotionally draining for children even if it went “well.” It may be helpful to plan for low demand evenings and simple routines for the first week back or so while your child adjusts to the school routine again.

• Don’t Panic About Settling In

It’s really common for there to be tears, resistance or wobbliness in the first few days or weeks, so please don’t panic if your child doesn’t settle straight away.

• Reach Out to Teachers Early

If you’re noticing that your child seems to be finding things more difficult than their peers or you have ongoing concerns about their learning or needs from last year, then it may be helpful to reach out to their teacher or SENCO to discuss how best to support them moving forward.

• Make Time to Rest On the Weekend

After the first week back at school, it can be really helpful for children (and parents!) to just enjoy a calm and low-demand weekend at home. This can be a great chance to rest, decompress and just recover from the transition back into the school routine for everybody.

I hope this Summer Holiday Support series has been helpful over the 6 weeks and I wish you and your children all the best of luck in their new school year!

Please let me know below if there is anything specifically you would like to see from the family side of the online community over the next couple of months 😊