Emma Clemens – Deputy Head of Primary

Anxiety and School Refusal – Part 2

Two weeks ago I wrote about anxiety and school refusal after attending a very thought-provoking course presented by child and adolescent psychiatrist, Professor Gordon. The key message throughout the day was that the treatment for school refusal is exposure to school. The longer students are away from school the harder it is to reintegrate. The reason for this is:

1. A foundation of learning can be lost and students can feel behind academically
2. Friendships can be difficult to reestablish
3. The student can exaggerate the concept of returning to school more than the reality.

Professor Gordon offered fourteen practical strategies to assist with anxiety and school refusal. In Week 6 I wrote about the first seven strategies and below are the final seven strategies.

1. Shared Locus Of Control: Imagine a line that has ‘Parents’ at one end and ‘School’ at the other. Where on the line does the responsibility lie to assist a child with anxiety and school refusal? Professor Gordon believes that it is a shared responsibility. Therefore school staff and parents must work in partnership.
2. Mirror Neurons: Children look to adults to moderate their behaviour. Research on mirror neurons has shown us that children will reflect or mirror anxiety displayed by adults. Therefore as the child dials up the anxiety, the adult needs to dial down. Anxiety is highly contagious. So as the adult we need to become increasingly calm or de-escalate as the child gets anxious or escalates.
3. The Menu: When dealing with anxiety and school refusal, children have a menu they can choose from. They have the option of healthy or unhealthy ‘food’ choices. For example, when feeling anxious a healthy food choice might be to have a bath, do some exercise, read a book or talk to an adult. An unhealthy food choice might be to hide in your bedroom or throw a tantrum. It is important for children to tell an adult if they are anxious so they can choose a healthy option from the menu. If they decide to just show by negative or unproductive behaviours, they are choosing an unhealthy option from the menu.
4. Internal Dialogue: A key to changing a child’s perspective on school is their internal dialogue. It can be helpful to decide on four or five key phrases that the child needs to repeat in their head when they are anxious. For example: ‘I can control my nerves’, ‘I’ve been to school 1000 times before and I can do it again’, ‘Nothing bad is going to happen to mum and dad’, ‘I can get out the car’. A good exercise to establish these thinking routines is to have a table of positive and negative thoughts. The child brainstorms all the negative thoughts that they ruminate upon and then the child and parent create a list of counteractive positive thoughts. When driving to school, the parent can prompt the child to say these positive thoughts out loud.
5. We Agree: When speaking to the child, all the adults need to be on the same page when dealing with school refusal or anxiety more broadly. Parents or teachers may be in disagreement as to the exact strategies or causes for anxiety or school refusal. Conversations to agree on the plan or approach must be done with the adults and away from the child. There can be robust discussion between the adults. However, with the child present there needs to be a unified approach with little wriggle room. The creates a sense of safety and trust for the child because all the adults are saying ‘we agree’.
6. Tag Team: Managing anxiety and school refusal is emotionally and physically exhausting. At times it can feel unsolvable. Therefore, use the adults in the child’s life to tag-team. When mum is exhausted and can’t push any more, allow dad to step in with fresh energy. Research shows greatest successes come from a team approach.
7. Which Key: Treatment of school refusal is first and foremost exposure to school. However, there are a number of strategies that might be effective in tipping the seesaw so that the child is able to move into the stretch zone and regularly attend school. A helpful illustration is a set of keys. There are many keys or strategies that can be used. It can take a while to work out which key is most effective. Parents and teachers need to collaboratively make a plan that might involve trying a number of keys before seeing success.

 Bus Behaviour

We are very privileged to have such an excellent public bus service to assist our students coming to and from school. However, in recent weeks I’ve had reports about poor behaviour from Emanuel students on our public buses. The NSW Transport Authority has a Code of Conduct which outlines the behaviour expectations of students. Some of these guidelines appear below, but they can also be found at this link.

• Use appropriate language not offensive or racist language
• Fighting, spitting, feet on seats, throwing things in or from the bus are not permitted
• No eating or drinking (other than water) on the bus – unless for medical reasons or the bus operator gives written permission.
• Offer seats to adults including people with a disability, elderly or expectant mothers
• Do not push or shove other people
• Do not bully or harass other passengers or the driver
• Remain in your seat – do not move around the bus unnecessarily
• Keep bags and other items clear of the aisle
• Do not allow any part of your body to protrude out of the bus at any time
• Wait for the bus in a quiet and orderly manner – including at bus interchanges
• Stand away from the roadside until the bus comes to a complete stop
• Allow other passengers to leave the bus before stepping onto the bus in a single line
• Wear the seatbelt properly adjusted and fastened, if one is available
• Do not leave rubbish on the bus or at bus stops.

Year 5 Bathurst Trip

Last week Year 5 had a fantastic trip to Bathurst Goldfields. The students did a number of tours and activities to learn about life in Colonial Australia. At Hill End Ranch they explored the Bald Hill Underground Mine, participated in a village treasure hunt and experienced gold panning. In the evening the children engaged in line dancing and colonial music activities. The trip was a meaningful and interesting learning experience as well as a wonderful opportunity to build and strengthen friendships. The students represented Emanuel School with pride and displayed wonderful behaviour. Thank you to the teachers who attended the camp, Tanya Jeckeln, Sophie Poisel, Gabi Wynhausen, Adam Ezekiel, Rebecca Gaida and Tali Silberstein.

Year 6 Canberra Trip

Last Friday we welcomed Year 6 back from a terrific camp in Canberra. The children were able to participate in a range of exciting visits to Parliament House, Questacon, the Australian Institute of Sport, The War Memorial and more. This is a very busy and worthwhile trip and I thank the teachers, Hugo Adrian, Diane Clennar, Anna Economou, Helen Maynard and Karon Rom, for the energy and commitment they offered in order to make the camp such a success. I have heard the best reports about the Year 6 students this term and camp was no exception.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government contributes funding of $20 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the School upon completion of the excursion. We have factored this into the costing for the excursion.

Upcoming Dates

• 27 March: Parent Teacher Interviews, MPH 4:00-9:00pm
• 29 March: Parent Teacher Interviews, MPH 4:00-6:30pm
• 30 March: Y3 Swimming, Allsorts Fitness Centre 1:15-2:45pm
• 31 March: Y1-2 Swimming Carnival, Des Renford 10:30-2:15pm
• 31 March: YK Back to Pre-school Day
• 3 April: Y6 Seder (students only)
• 4 April: Y5 Seder 8:50am Millie Phillips Theatre, Y3 Seder 11:10am Angles Leadership and Learning Centre (LLC), Y4 Seder 2:00pm Y4 classrooms
• 5 April: Y2 Seder 8:50am LLC
• 5 April: Y6 Gratitude Day
• 6 April: YK Seder 9:30am LLC, Y1 Seder 2:00pm LLC
• 6 April: Y3-6 Cross Country, 10:00am-1:00pm Queens Park
• 7 April: Last Day Term 1
• 27 April: First Day Term 2, Primary Lice Check

K-2 Assembly 2:00-2:50pm Theatre

Term 1

• 7 April (Week 10): 2Y Mrs Esra

Term 2

• 5 May (Week 2): eActive Dance Group
• 19 May (Week 4): Y2 Hebrew
• 2 June (Week 6): Shavuot, school closed
• 16 June (Week 8) 2T Mrs Strub
• 30 June (Week 10): Music Assembly