Health and Wellbeing

Supporting Your Child When They’re Starting a New School

Help your child start their new school feeling more excited than scared, with a plan ready for each thing they're worried about.

  • 35 minutes
  • 8 modules
  • Certificate

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What you'll learn

  • Start open, honest conversations with your child about the move early
  • Make if-then plans for worries like getting lost or eating lunch alone
  • Find an older pupil who can answer your child's questions
  • Help your child see their nerves as excitement
  • Celebrate small successes once the new term begins

About this course

What if I get lost? What if nobody sits with me at lunch? Whether your child is moving up to secondary school or changing schools partway through the year, these are the questions that tend to come up at home.

You'll find simple ways to answer them together. Work out what an ordinary day will look like, from uniform to who they walk in with. Then make an 'if-then' plan for each worry, so one wrong turn doesn't spoil the whole day. An older pupil who's already at the school can help more than you might expect, and you'll see how to help your child notice that nerves and excitement feel much the same.

Once they've started, there's a simple habit for stopping to notice what's going well and telling them you're proud of them.

8 modules

Open in order

  1. Introduction

    2 min
  2. Don’t hide from it

    8 min
  3. Find a buddy or mentor

    7 min
  4. Look for the positives

    4 min
  5. Learn from past triumphs and mistakes

    6 min
  6. Plan, plan, plan

    7 min
  7. Stop, reflect and celebrate small successes

    3 min
  8. Wrap up

    2 min