Tips on reducing School Anxiety this Summer holiday

What is school anxiety?

Returning to school after a long period of being at home can be an exciting yet equally daunting experience for children. Especially if you feel your child was behind or struggling with their academic studies prior to the Summer break.

There is no doubt that Covid-19 has massively impacted your child’s academic journey, whether it be from them sitting exams for the first time as a result of the pandemic or the gap in knowledge having spent so much time ‘learning from home’.

If undetected, anxiety can make school difficult for children and potentially lead to anxiety-based absence or EBSA (emotionally-based school avoidance). This article highlights signs to look out for and ways to help reduce school anxiety. 

What causes school anxiety?

This can differ from child to child but some of the common reasons can be:

• Settling into an unfamiliar environment
• Making new friends
• Academic pressure
• Bullying
• External factors such as mental health or problems at home.

What does school anxiety look like?

Anxiety can often be misunderstood as other conditions such as ADHA or learning disorders, but it’s important to keep note of the symptoms your child is demonstrating and when they’re experiencing them as you may notice a pattern that relates to their school timetable. Signs to look out for include:

• Upset stomach
• Headaches
• Racing heart
• Disruptive behaviour, acting out or feeling restless
• Struggling to focus
• Repeating questions
• Freezing up
• Clinginess
• Avoid socialising
• Obsessive-compulsion.

How to deal with back to school anxiety

There are several ways you can support your child and we’ve listed 7 anxiety solutions you can try:

1. Talk to them – provide emotional support by simply asking what’s worrying them or how they’re feeling. Listen to their response and reassurance them that you understand.
2. Set a routine this Summer – anxiety can stem from the unknown. To overcome this, build a regular routine for their summer break. Yes, allow them to enjoy the summer and time off, but keep them engaged academically for 3-5 hours per week. If not, you can risk your child returning to school more stressed and worried than when they left.
3. Discuss changes – in order to make them feel at ease, work together to figure out what can be done at school or at home to help.
4. Talk to their school – do this as soon as you know your child is anxious about returning. Teachers can look out for any signs when they return and follow any changes or routines you’ve put in place.
5. Find some coping mechanisms – it’s important that your child knows how to understand and manage their emotions. Ideas could include spending time with friends, listening to music, reading, exercising or breathing techniques.
6. Try journaling – encourage them to note down their thoughts. Physically writing their worries provides a sense of release and stores them somewhere safe.
7. Consider additional support – six weeks can seem a long time to find alternative ways of keeping children active over Summer. We all love a holiday, but should children only be involved in social activities during the break? Plus, it has been proven that children who aren’t involved in any educational activities over the Summer months lose two months worth of knowledge. Meaning teachers can spend a significant part of the first term helping students relearn forgotten skills, rather than building on solid learning foundations.

We at Yorkshire Education Service can offer the perfect solution to this problem, especially if you feel your child is behind academically. Our Summer School runs for five weeks and offers a range of activities, where your child can attend one or more of our 80-minute lessons and will be given a small amount of homework. We offer a free consultation before you book so that we can pinpoint what it is your child needs. We will then devise an individual learning programme for them to help them maintain focus and prepare for the year ahead. This small amount of effort will make a huge difference and will mean your child is ready for the new school year and will not waste valuable time.

Returning to school should be an exciting time for children. As well as addressing their worries, make sure you talk throughout the summer about all the fun times and new opportunities ahead.