School Transitions

By Daniel Quin, 11 April 2017

Starting primary school and high school are two obvious and important milestones. However, every new year is a transition ... new teachers, classmates, classrooms, and routines.

The term one holidays are a good time to consider how your child has adapted to these changes. Things to look out for are changes in your child’s behaviours, routines, and emotions. For example, is your child having sudden emotional outbursts; retreating and brooding; taking longer to get ready in the morning?

These changes may be a sign that friendships, teacher relationships, schoolwork, home, or even something unrelated (!) is troubling your child. It can be difficult to decide when to intervene or let time and the child resolve the problem.

Often it is helpful to seek the opinion of significant adults in a child’s life, including teachers. Additionally, psychologists with expertise in child and adolescent psychology can advise if further support is recommended.

Psychology Melbourne’s Daniel Quin is a teacher and parent. He is well attuned to the school and family dynamics that can impact upon a child. Daniel is experienced in working with parents, individual children, or collaboratively with the family to respond and support school transitions.

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• child_psychology