“WAKE UP! WAKE up! C’mon, first day of school,” announced Nemo in Finding Nemo.

Grab your school bag, sharpen those pencils, put on those new shoes and get to bed early – back to school is almost here.

While it might seem like the summer has just started, the classroom beckons. And with it comes excitement, uncertainty and nerves over what lies ahead.

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated,” said Oscar Wilde. With that in mind, and to ease us all into September, I’ve gathered my top tips to have parents and kids school-ready.

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside you”, said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

One sure way to stall that unique voice that is your child’s is for it to be quashed by algorithm-driven content on screens – telling them what to think, what to say, how to look, who to be or not be friends with, how to act.

As we watch while the US courts attempt to hold digital platforms like Meta accountable for deliberate product design that is harming children, there are steps to limit how much time our children spend online.

Measures like removing all phones from mealtimes, a complete ban on phones in bedrooms, and parents limiting their own scrolling in front of children can have a big impact on what and how much content children see online and help them to discover their own voice.

Summertime means that routines around sleep have been upended – time to recalibrate. Setting a curfew and removing phones from bedrooms is a great first step. Increasingly, in a society that prizes productivity, sleep is considered expendable. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is a common response from the young.

But mounting evidence tells us sleep is not a luxury – it should be viewed with the same level of attention as diet or exercise. Always-on digital culture and blue-light exposure from screens have undermined our natural rhythms.

And it’s not just physical health. Poor sleep doubles the risk of developing depression, while consistent sleep supports emotional regulation, facing daily challenges........

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