I wonder how many children are feeling a little unsettled at the moment. Maybe they don't realise what this feeling is when they wake up with butterflies in their tummy, they have been a bit scratchy with their siblings or they just can't settle on a task. If this describes a child you care about, it is hardly surprising.
At this time of year there is so much change. Even if your child is going back to the same school, or the same class, it is highly likely that they will have a new teacher. There may well be a new classroom and some new classmates, too.
Many children are not just going back to school but having new teachers or new classrooms, changing schools or starting school for the first time. Even a new uniform or sturdy new shoes can throw off the emotional equilibrium so many have enjoyed through the summer.
If you think children are feeling unsettled, consider how many adults too are feeling anxious. The new routines and supporting their children while they settle, plus feeling protective as parents or practitioners while their oh-so-precious children start their new term, their new chapter. What we don't consider is how these waves of emotion from the adults can cause children close to them to feel restless without realising the reason.
Some of us will be supporting children who are leaving their families for the first time for school or nursery.
My son is starting a new job and moving to a new flat and, as a mum, I have some butterflies for him. I also know that when I return to work I will feel unsettled, missing my dogs and my husband (yes, in that order. Sorry, Chris!)
Children will miss their freedom, their families and the familiar faces and places they have enjoyed through the summer.
Having said that, they will soon come to relish the routines, the rekindled love for learning and, most importantly, the relationships they have formed and have yet to form.
Relationships are the foundations which are often overlooked. They are not the things you see displayed on classroom walls or in tables of results, but relationships are the very first fundamental for children to be able to love learning, develop self regulation and feel safe and secure in their school or setting.
In order to grow more confident, be able to challenge themselves and weather the storms, every child needs to ‘know where their anchor is.’
At home their anchor is likely to be Mum, Dad or the adult they connect most closely with. In their early years' setting, each child is allocated a key person, in best practice – one who is well matched to that child and attuned to anticipate their needs even before the child is aware of them.
Wouldn't it be fantastic if right through their school career every child knew there was an adult who was attuned to them, who trusted them to take risks but was tolerant and had time for them when they took a tumble? The great news is that in so many schools these days there is a person like that for each child to turn to. In secondary schools it may be a counsellor, or a trusted tutor. In primary schools it is often the class teacher, a learning support assistant or an ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Tutor).
I have been feeling a little unsettled thinking of returning to my routine. But I am so blessed. At the school I work with I know where my anchor is and who my anchor is. I know that even when it's stormy weather, there is a safe harbour and my 'Anchor of Attachment' will help me restore, reboot, refresh and return to whatever my next task is having learned a little more about how to weather the storms for myself.