With the Christmas holidays approaching, teacher Kimberley Roan McVeigh offers a reminder that, for some young people, this is a particularly difficult time of year.
We all remember Christmas at school: tinsel, nativities, parties…and for the majority of us it conjures nothing but fond memories. Yet for many of our young people Christmas can be a time of anxiety and fear and stress, which often manifests itself in dysregulated and distressed behaviour and poor mental wellbeing.
As educators, especially within the ASN sector, we see this often, particularly in the weeks leading up to the festive season. A myriad of dysregulated emotions - tears, anger, and defiance - are all commonplace within our classrooms and often as educators we are unsure of the best way to navigate these difficulties. As always in education an approach of unconditional and positive regard, love and kindness are the best tools we have.
Our relationships and our humanity and connection to our wonderful young people is what makes the difference every day in their lives, and Christmas is no different.
The prospect of two weeks without the consistency and routine of school life can be incredibly daunting. Adding to this, potential pressures at home including financial worries, food poverty and fuel poverty alongside societal pressures on parents and the mental wellbeing of our young people is of huge concern. Our children struggle to communicate these massively overwhelming feelings however, and instead this fear and anxiety manifests in distressed behaviour.
Tragically this often leads to more........