The autumn term is well underway and for many of your charges, enthusiasm for school is becoming as worn as those once-shiny new school shoes. Half term could be the perfect time to address any reluctance towards school and refresh their perspectives ahead of Monday morning. Even Prince George had had enough of his new prep school by week three of the new term, so your charges are in royal company if they too are less-than-excited about school.
“Starting school is harder for firstborns and summer babies,” says child development expert Dr Rebecca Chicot. This would make sense for the third in line to the throne, whose birthday is in July. Things might be easier for Princess Charlotte and their new sibling, both spring babies.
Month of birth aside, all children will find their first term exhausting – whether they’re in reception or sixth form. But as evenings draw in, you could try bringing bedtime forward: the extra sleep will help to combat some of the fatigue caused by the school day. Try to ban screen time for the two hours before bed if possible, keep bath time as a soothing pre-bedtime routine, and help them select bedtime stories that help to wind them down rather than razz them up at the end of the day.
If you have overdone it on after-school playdates and clubs in the first half term, consider adjusting your charges’ social calendar after half term and chat to their parents about their thoughts on this. Time to reflect and ‘decompress’ a little after the hustle and bustle of the school day is really important, so try to schedule in some essential downtime every day.
Encourage your charges to talk to you about their school day so that you can try and determine whether there is anything in particular that might be putting them off school. Keeping communication lines open between parents, teachers and yourself is really important here. Sometimes, simply being able to talk through their day or what might have bothered or frustrated them is enough – at other times it will be necessary to make contact with school (yourself or one of the parents) to try to resolve a specific issue which is causing them worry or distress.
We hope that you all have a happy half term this week, but beware of exhausting your charges with a packed out schedule of activities during a week that could be best spend resting up and recharging – yourself included - for the Christmas term. Coughs and colds are rife right now, and we all want to be putting out best foot forward on Monday morning.