18th September 2024 • My Family Our Needs

Back to school can be a time with many challenges, especially for neurodivergent families. The Witherslack Group has produced a support pack to help parents of SEND students transition from summertime back into term-time.

It has advice and support to guide both parents and their children through the back-to-school transition. The support pack covers topics such as preparing your child for school, transitioning from primary to secondary school and managing school anxiety among others.

The first section of the support pack discusses how parents can prepare their child for school. It discusses how parents can ease their child from the laidback and relaxed feel of the summer holidays to the hustle and bustle of being back at school. It proposes talking your child through what will happen, what is expected of them, what they learned the previous year, their progress and how those skills take time to build up. It also talks about arranging appointments, limiting screen time, visiting the school and how to make getting dressed for school an easier time for both parents and children.

The next section of the pack is called ‘Ready, set, learn’ and it discusses the importance of routine for neurodivergent children. The articles here can give insights into why your child might be feeling nervous, advice about establishing a morning routine and how to prepare for those first weeks at school. There is also a printable daily routine calendar, so that parent and child can prepare for the day ahead and what to expect which can help minimise anxiety.

Section three of the pack discusses navigating transitions. It has two videos that talk parents through different important school transitions. The first is about going from holiday mode back to a school routine and the second is about the transition from primary to secondary school which can be a scary time for any student but especially SEND students.

The fourth and final section of the support pack talks parents through how they manage and understand their children’s school anxiety. It provides parents with two informational videos covering the topics of afterschool breakdowns and school refusals. In addition, there is a podcast about back-to-school meditation practices that may help neurodivergent students along with an article about how to support your child’s learning and how you can motivate your child.

Find the back to school support pack here.