Welcome to our first parent/carer 'Wellbeing Wednesday'. I have attached local and national support that might be useful for your family.
Each week we will share a top health and wellbeing tip.
This week the focus is on supporting family relationships during lockdown. The following activity will help families to maintain relationships during this difficult period.
Take 5
This idea will vary depending on how many children you have and how easy it is for you to be with each child individually. Working on the assumption that either parent or both can devise a means to make it work, it is very effective.
Using a timer, spend a minimum of 5 minutes with your child or each child if you have more than one. It is a special time where just you and he or she talk to each other. Try to include some eye contact (if appropriate for your setting) if your child is small then cuddle. If your child is older put an arm around their shoulder or even hold their hand or sit next to them so that there is physical closeness. If you child is older and this is going to be a challenge, devise a way to be present in your child’s day for 5 minutes by any means. Looking at tiktok/youtube/whatsapp together and then moving away from the online interaction to your real world might be good, too.
The reason this matters is it akin to the days when your child was a tiny baby and needed and grew from all the cuddling, caressing and loving you gave them as an infant, but you will have managed to move that nurturing process into the present. Try to do this every day, reduce the time to 2 minutes if it’s difficult and build up to 5 minutes if you can. You should find this an enormously rewarding behaviour, one which shows many benefits over time.
If you need any support for your family please email the school and we will contact you. Take care