It has been with excitement that the Junior School staff have been preparing their classrooms for the girls’ return next week. We are very eager to see them again and return to face-to-face teaching. Over the next few weeks we will be holding more Wellbeing lessons, supporting the girls with their transition from a long period of being home to returning to school. We will be conducting surveys with the girls over a period of time to help us gauge how they are transitioning to school and to inform further planning.

We will conduct some activities to see where they are academically and we will be working hard to support them through any gaps. This will be undertaken through whole class and small group work. We are fortunate that we have been able to provide live lessons throughout the remote learning period and have been able to keep the girls’ learning progressing toward the year’s expected outcomes.

Farewell to Miss Sophie Hammill

Miss Sophie Hammill has left St Catherine’s to take up a position in Darwin, as she has always had a dream to travel, and Darwin was a place she wanted to see. In her short time at St Catherine’s, she had endeared herself to many of the girls. She supported their learning with her usual sense of humour, providing many girls with the needed encouragement to give new learning a go with greater self-confidence. We wish her well with her new venture.

The Need to Boost Confidence

The remote learning period may have challenged the confidence of some of our girls, making them a little nervous about their return. It is hoped that after a few weeks back at school, with the support of their teachers, family and school friends this will settle and they will feel more at ease.

There are a number of things we can do to boost the self-confidence of our girls and support them to better manage if they are feeling a little anxious about their return.

Ratner, Diaz and Lighter (2020) suggest the following tactics:

• help your child identify their worries and fears, and then provide child-friendly, fact-based information to address those issues
• reassure your child that their teachers and parents will be there to help
• encourage your child to take “coping breaks” when they feel anxious, such as deep breathing, doodling for a few minutes, counting to a certain number, imagining a favourite place, or repeating coping statements such as, “It’s normal to be nervous, but I’m OK, and I’ll make it through the day”.
• Encourage your child to tell you about how their worries affected them at school, and seek out extra help from a school counsellor or teacher if needed.

We are here to support all our girls with the transition back to campus. Please feel free to contact me for any concerns you may have.

We are so excited and looking forward to seeing and welcoming all the girls back to Barbreck.

Reference: https://nyulangone.org/news/preparing-students-safe-return-school-during-covid-19