A message from Megan Williams, School Psychologist

Dear Parents and Caregivers of new students at QMC

Is your child currently on an emotional roller coaster? Are they tearful and tired? I feel your pain….. I have a 10 year old son who has just started at Intermediate and it’s exhausting.

Starting at a new school is a big deal, it is a lot of change all at once. I have heard it likened to what it’s like for adults starting a new job. It has been a very big three weeks at QMC with Athletics Day and EOTC and everything else in between.

Here are my gentle suggestions for getting through this tricky time:

Be kind to yourself and them, choose easy dinners that everyone likes, try and make sure you all have lots of relaxing time in the weekend, perhaps let chores go for a week or two.

Listen to your child and validate their feelings. Let them know that you can see that what they are going through is really hard, let them see that you have heard and see that they are struggling.

Keep supporting them to go to school every day, even if you have to promise to meet them at the school gate with a chocolate milkshake after school. This is really important as if they start to miss one or two days, this can quickly snowball, and also doesn’t allow your child to learn to push through the struggle and learn what it feels like to feel good at the end of that struggle.

Keep communicating with your child’s tutor teacher and dean, and let them know if your child is struggling and they can work out ways with you of how to support your child also.

Keep trying to encourage them to become a part of the school community by joining a sporting team, or a cultural group or club. Having a strong sense of belonging in a school makes a huge difference to students motivation to attend school.

If your child is feeling really anxious or worried about going to school then I suggest you read this article by Karen Young who has some fantastic suggestions on how to manage this. How to manage school anxiety: What children and teens need from us (theparentswebsite.com.au)

If you have any further concerns or questions regarding your child’s start to school, then also feel free to get in contact with either myself or our other psychologist Eleanor Krol. Our emails are megan.williams@qmc.school.nz or eleanor.krol@qmc.school.nz

Ngā mihi nui

Megan Williams

Educational Psychologist

Wellbeing team

I work part-time hours:

Tuesday & Wednesday 7.30-2.30pm

Thursday 9.00 to 12.00pm

Friday 7.30 to 4.00pm

If you need urgent counselling or support you can free call or text to talk with a trained counsellor on 1737 at any time