“Talk to Your Children Factually About COVID”: Leading Academic, Dr Nicole Archard, on supporting student’s mental health as they return to the classroom
Leading SA girls’ College Principal flags importance of providing extra emotional support for students, as they return to school under a hybrid learning model. Suggesting four key tips to strengthen emotional wellbeing for students.
Following the announcement that South Australian students will be returning to school under a ‘hybrid’ learning model for the first two weeks of term, Dr Nicole Archard, Principal of leading SA girls’ school, Loreto College Marryatville, suggests the announcement will likely add to many students’ anxiety leading into the new school year.
“We know this announcement will only exacerbate the usual back-to-school stress and anxiety for students. Whilst we hope the majority of students will hold great excitement for the new school year, the reality we face is that many will be nervous and anxious about the many unknowns still ahead,” says Dr Archard.
Dr Archard suggests there will be renewed importance for schools to provide additional emotional support for students during this time, and for parents to check in with their children as they transition back into learning environments.
“Children, including adolescents, will look to their parents for signs of stress and anxiety and will internalise these feelings, thus driving their own emotional response. As parents, and therefore role models to our children, it is imperative to consider how we can make the return as positive an experience as possible for children,” says Dr Archard
She highlights the following tips to parents to help strengthen emotional wellbeing support for children during this transition process:
- Talk to your children factually about COVID, try to not include your own emotional response (even if you are feeling this), just keep to the facts. If a family member, friend, yourself, or your child contract COVID, again talk about this in a factual way. This is a good opportunity to teach children empathy and care for others.
- Stay up to date with reliable information from Government websites, never rely on social media as a source.
- Be aware of any ‘adult’ conversations that children may overhear. Keep any financial or employment conversations out of earshot for children. If your family has been impacted financially due to COVID this will increase your child’s stress levels considerably, as a stable and secure home is the most important thing to them. Remember, even when you think your children aren’t listening, they probably are. They tend to have a sixth sense for these types of conversations and are experts at pretending they are not listening.
- Always focus on what you do know rather than speculate on the unknown. If your child asks, ‘What will happen if…?’ then say, ‘We don’t know yet, but when we find out, we’ll get through it together’ or ‘When I find out, I will let you know.’
Dr Archard continues:
“If the leadup to school is causing your child stress (and this can happen at any age), try focusing on some mindfulness activities which can help to calm your child and help them not to over think situations. By engaging the mind, it has less time to consider negative thoughts. Doing activities such as sitting quietly and reading a book, listening to music, or colouring in are great distractors for the brain. Things to definitely avoid are engaging in negative and circular conversations and pretty well all social media.”
As an expert in the field, Dr Archard also highlights the burden placed on teachers to address the uncertainty felt by students at this time and suggests increased focus on all aspects of emotional wellbeing through school-based programs is vital to ensure ample support.
“As educators, now more than ever we need to strengthen our focus on student emotional wellbeing as part of a holistic approach to the growth of knowledge and skills required for life success,” says Dr Archard.
Loreto College has proudly pioneered a forward-thinking approach to school wellbeing through its award winning Social, Emotional and Academic Development (SEAD) Program. This program was recognised as one of Australia’s Best Student Wellbeing Programs at the 2021 Australian Education Awards.
The innovative SEAD Program utlises Student Pulse, an online tool developed by Educator Impact to provide real-time insights and measurements of the week-to-week wellbeing and engagement of students. By tracking the wellbeing of individual students, the school can make informed and immediate changes to the SEAD Program based on different student social and emotional needs.
“With Student Pulse we are able to gain a tangible insight into the emotional wellbeing of each child. We can then take this powerful information and deliver either a tailored or school-wide approach to address any issues as they arise,” says Dr Archard.
Term 1 Loreto College Tour Dates:
ELC Open Morning - Saturday 19 Feb (Week 3) 10.30am
College Tour - Friday 11 March (Week 6) 9:00am
ELC Open Morning & Picnic - Saturday 26 March (Week 8) 10.30am
College Tour - Friday 1 April (Week 9) 9.00am
About Dr Nicole Archard, Loreto College Marryatville Principal.
Dr Nicole Archard is a highly qualified, passionate advocate for girls’ education. With a Doctor in Philosophy in Gender, Girls’ Education, Women and Leadership, in addition to three Masters’ degrees, she is well qualified to champion that view.
Dr Archard believes that a girls' school environment is the best place for girls to be educated and that it equips them to challenge gender stereotypes, develop a confident and articulate voice, develop leadership capacity in all forums, and be comfortable within themselves.
A published author and accomplished public speaker, Dr Archard advocates nationally and internationally on the topics of gender, women and leadership, girls and STEM, and girls’ education.
About Loreto College
Loreto College Marryatville is South Australia’s leading all-girls day and boarding schools, catering for students from Early Learning to Year 12.
Established in 1905, a Loreto education is built on a 400-year-old tradition first inspired by the founder of Loreto schools worldwide, Mary Ward, and encapsulates her beliefs in delivering an education which inspires strong, passionate, and confident girls and young women.
In delivering this view, Loreto College Marryatville provides girls with a well-rounded education where students are presented with a broad range of opportunities and given the support and encouragement to become confident and engaged learners with the knowledge and skills to make a difference to their world.
