Newsletters

Please keep up to date with all the news happening in school at the moment and click a headline to read more.

• Week Beginning

  Sat 26 Mar 2022

  Week beginning 28^th March 2022.
  Parent/Carer Meetings: thank you to all our parents and carers who attended parent/teacher meetings this week. We have thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk to you about your children’s achievements and progress and to share with you their next steps. We thank you for your ongoing support with your children’s learning.

  The Big Walk and Wheel Week: thank you to all of the children who brought their bikes/scooters into school this week. They have relished riding with their friends in the playground, learning about helmet safety and the importance of being active! Well done to all those who also made a special effort to walk to school this week. Our JTAs worked incredibly hard, visiting classes each day to demonstrate helmet safety and explaining the importance of wearing a helmet. They also met an official from the Council to monitor how many people ‘idle’ (park and keep their engines running). Our JTAs said ‘if you do this, please stop because it is really bad for the environment!’ Raffle prizes for our walkers will be drawn next week. Additionally, each class blinged up their bikes or souped up their scooters - winners will be announced next week.

  Massive thanks go to Mrs Draper, our travel plan lead, for her efforts in organising these events.

  Neurodiversity: this year, World Autism Acceptance Week is from 28 March to 3 April.  Ambitious about Autism and the NAS have a range of autism awareness week materials on their website should you wish to access these, please find the links below. As always, our Inclusion Leader is available if you have any queries or concerns in regard to your children, please do not hesitate to get in touch via lroberts@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk; World Autism Acceptance Week 2022 | Ambitious about Autism;  World Autism Acceptance Week 2022 The slides from the Neurodiversity Coffee morning on 25th March, can be found on the school website.

  Today is Epilepsy Awareness Day – during Friday’s assembly, two of our confident superstars explained what it is like to live with epilepsy and raised awareness of this condition – well done boys, you are amazing!

  Carroty Wood: we are beyond excited that on Wednesday next week, our Year 5 children will be heading out on their residential visit to Carroty Wood where they will stay until Friday. We are very grateful to Mrs Sinclair, Mrs Derodra, Miss Hale, Mrs Bolton and Mrs Kioufi for agreeing to support the children on this visit. Without their willingness to work around the clock, we would not be able to make these experiences happen for our children. While Miss Hale is away on this school journey, Miss Harman, who is sadly far too pregnant for zip-wiring, will be teaching Class 7. We are sure the children will be great ambassadors for the school and will make memories to last a life time!

  Trips: our children in Year 2 will also be heading out on their first school trip to Chessington Zoo on Thursday 31^st March. If your child is attending this visit, please ensure that they are wearing plain dark jogging bottoms and trainers along with their normal school jumper and a waterproof jacket. They will also need a packed lunch and a small backpack that they can carry this in themselves. Please note, the children will be due back from school at the slightly later time of half past 4 to ensure that they can enjoy as much time as possible at the Zoo.

  Assembly: the children in Class 2 will be recording their class assembly which we will share with parents, carers and families via Google Classrooms.  We will send a text message to let you know when it has been uploaded.

  Goodbye: sadly, on Friday 1^st of April we will be saying goodbye to Mrs Gourlay who will be leaving The Hayes. Her new school has different term dates (as they are in a different Borough) and we are therefore releasing her from her contract one week before the end of term to ensure that she has a week off work to relocate, prior to beginning her new role. We wish Mrs Gourlay and her family all the very best and know that we will all miss her very much – she has been a huge asset to our school. We will also be saying farewell to Miss Ingram, a Roehampton student, who has been on placement with us in Class 4 this term. We thank her for all she has done for the children and wish her the best of luck in her future teaching career. Also, at the end of this term, we will be saying a temporary farewell to Miss Harman who will be starting her maternity leave. We are very grateful to Mrs Lishmund who has agreed to cover this for us until Miss Harman is able to return.

  People Who Help Us: as a continuing part of their ‘People who help us’ topic, the children in Reception will be visited by two nurses in school on Wednesday and on Friday 1^st. Look out for pictures coming your way soon!

  Ice Cream Van: many of you have contacted us regarding the ice cream van that is continuing to park outside of our school at the end of the school day. Whilst we sympathise with the fact that this is providing an unhealthy temptation to the children, unfortunately, we have no legal powers to move this person on. The only power we have against this is our collective power to not buy from this vendor. If we stop providing business, he will stop coming. We are very grateful to Mrs Pearce, one of our governors, who has contacted the Local Authority about this matter. They are in communication with the Safer Neighbourhood Policing team in order to support us with moving him away from the school and ensuring he is complying with the Law.

  Collection Changes: the office staff are dealing with a large number of people calling during the day to inform them of changes to collection arrangements at the end of the day. This approach can be really quite disruptive as teachers then have to be called during the lessons to inform them of the change which interrupts learning. Please can we remind you that phoning the office with this kind of message should be a last resort, used only in an emergency situation e.g. car/train has broken down. If it is an arrangement that is organised in advance, please send your child with a brief note to the class teacher in the morning to let them know who will be picking up. Thank you.

  Thank You: lastly, we would like to thank our PTA for running our Mother’s Day gift room. It has been a hive of activity this week.
  Happy Mother’s Day: we end with wish all our amazing mums, grandmas, big sisters, aunts and any other important female role models a wonderful day for Sunday. Thank you for all the love and support you give to our children.  

  Have a wonderful weekend. 
  The Hayes Team

   

  ​

   

  

• Week beginning 21st March 2022

  Fri 18 Mar 2022

  Week beginning 21^st March 2022

  We have a busy week next week with lots of fun and important events coming up. But first, we would like to say a huge well done to the children in Class 5 and Class 1 who led fantastic class assemblies this week. We hope you enjoyed watching as much as we did.

  Red Nose Day: is today and what an amazing day we have had, from silly dancing to sponsored silences. Miss Slade was particularly impressed with Class 9 who were silent for a whole day! She was so impressed she is donating to RND today via the school’s Just Giving Page Today’s assembly was about RND and also the achievements of our children. Isobel and Ethan (Year 6) helped with the assembly and told all how important it is to do something super exciting to raise much needed money to help change lives. They reminded everyone that you can all put your sponsorship money on our Just Giving page, accessed via our Twitter page or the link above. Thank you so much. At present, we have raised a whopping £891, 89% of our target, which is £1000. COME ON! We can do it….thank you! Photos are now on our website, please click here. 

  Miracles of Nature Competition: a massive well done to all the photographers who entered into our second photography competition. During the last few months, children have been taking wonderful photos of nature at its finest and yet again, it has been hard to judge the competition, the talent has been astounding. This competition was ‘Miracles of Winter’ (and although it feels like spring, winter ends on Sunday 20^th March!) We will run the competition again when we come back from the Easter break, the competition will then be Miracles of Spring and we are very much looking forward to seeing photos of daffodils and the spring sunshine.

  A massive well done to all who entered - you are all so talented. A huge thank you, again to Mrs Staines who has been the administrator for this competition. For this competition, we have a winner per class, as promised. For the spring competition, we will have one winner per year group.
  A collage has been designed and this will take pride of place in one of our large frames in the lower corridor. The winners will also have their photos published on our website in due course. Next week, everyone who entered, will receive a certificate- well done again.

  The winners of this year’s spring wonders of nature photography competition are:
  Safari: a huge well done to Sanaa, with her fabulous First Hailstone Experience. The school council said: a lovely wintery blanket that covers the grass.
  Rainforest: well done to Orla who took a photo of snow drops of winter. Our school council said this is just like little drops from Heaven.
  Class 1: well done to Romeo-Blu who took this photo of ‘Showing My True Colours’...our school council said a beautiful variation of colours and an amazing double rainbow!
  Class 2: well done to Thomas for A Winter Window, View from Bodium Castle. The school council said: a window of wintery magic.

  Class 4: well done to Emily for ‘A Bunch of Snowdrops’. Our school council said the flowers look beautiful as they sprout out in spring.
  Class 6: well done to Chloe for her Winter Wonderland….our school council said you can see the dew drops glistening on the delicate bulbs.
  Class 7: well done to Naomi, for Fox Playing with Deers. The school council said: what a scene, how beautiful it is to see such nature!

  Class 8: well done to Mylo for his Wonderful Winter Waves….our school council said a vast open sea view with the sun setting.

  Class 9: well done to Isabelle ….our school council said what a delicate burst of yellow, reminds us of saxophones.
  Class 10: well done to Finley, for Dragon Lord of the Forest. The school council said: what an amazing image of a fierce, woodland dragon

  Class 12: well done to Lois….our school council said a warm, frosty blanket covering a winter window.

  The judges: committee of the school council, the school governors and myself say well done to all who entered -some really strong entries and we look forward to the spring competition.

  ABCD Award: this week goes to Mrs Randall, who worked really, really hard to put on a fabulous Book Week. Well done! She was nominated by a number of children who said……..you always try your best to make an easier understanding of work, you help me when I am stuck and because she has taught me many things. Well done!
  S6 Form: today, we have sent home with each child an S6 form. This is a data collection form in which you include your contact details and those of emergency contacts. It is essential that we check these from time to time to ensure we are holding the most up to date information about you so that you can be contactable in an emergency. Please can ALL families take a moment over the weekend to fill in the requested information and return it back to the school by Friday 25^th March. Thank you for your co-operation. ​

  Neurodiversity Week:  This week is National Neurodiversity celebration week. This is a worldwide event that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. In raising awareness of neurodiversity, we aim to recognise the many strengths and advantages of being neurodivergent in order to further promote our inclusive environment in a way that is equitable. We want to empower every individual in our school to celebrate their differences and similarities. Too often people focus on the challenges that people with specific learning differences face, this week is about celebrating their greatness. The children will have a special assembly by Dr Jo, an education psychologist, who will explain more about neurodiversity and how this may be more commonly recognised for example in children with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia or Dyspraxia. If you would like to know more about this week you can visit Neurodiversity Celebration Week (neurodiversityweek.com).

  On Monday, to kickstart the week, we are all invited to wear odd socks, the odder the better to celebrate Neurodiversity. Also, if you think your child may have specific learning differences and would like to discuss this, our inclusion manager Mrs Roberts, is always happy to meet with you. She can be contacted on lroberts@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk .

  Mental Health First Aiders: at The Hayes we are committed to breaking the stigma around mental health difficulties and, as you will no doubt be aware from the national press, in recent years cases of poor mental health in young people have been increasing quite significantly. In addition, the uncertainty of current events is also causing added stressors for some people in relation to their mental health. A NHS study showed that in 2018 approx 1 in every 9 children had a diagnosable mental health condition but by 2020 this had increased to 1 in every 6. Therefore, in addition to having physical first aiders at school we are now proud to let you know that we also have two mental health first aiders. Mental health first aiders are not able to diagnose mental health conditions but, they can listen to concerns in a non-judgemental way and provide support and information about professional services that can be accessed. They can also share ideas for other types of support that may be helpful including voluntary organisations, apps and self-help books.
  If you have concerns about your child’s mental health and would like to discuss these with one of our mental health first aiders (Mrs Rich or Mrs Olley), please feel free to email deputy@hayesprimary.croydon.sch.uk to request a chat and one of our mental health first aiders will make contact with you to invite you in. Please remember they are not qualified to diagnose but they can offer you support and information in relation to your concern.

  Monday Run-Day: one of the best ways we can maintain a good sense of wellbeing is by participating in regular exercise that gets the endorphins pumping. If you are wanting to ensure that you start your week the way you mean to go on, our new Monday morning extra-curricular club may be of interest to you. From Monday 28^th 25 interested children (and a parent if they wish) can come to school at 8:15 to complete a mile on our daily mile track. This is first come, first served, please apply via Parent Pay. We shall provide you with a clicker to count your laps (13 laps of the daily mile track = 1 mile). You can run, walk or jog, it’s up to you but you have up to 30 mins to complete your mile before the school doors open at 8:45! There are 13 term time Monday mornings left until the end of the school year…the challenge is to complete a half marathon (1 mile at a time) before we break up in July for the Summer holidays. Each child taking part will be given a ‘trainer tracker’ sheet to colour in at the end of each session. When 13 sessions have been completed, the trainer will be fully coloured in and the half marathon will have been achieved. Those completing the half marathon will receive a certificate in the last week of term. A super opportunity to spend time together in the great outdoors whilst promoting healthy and active lifestyles.

  Active Travel Week: next week is also our active travel week during which the children will have a special assembly from our JTAs (Junior Travel Ambassadors). Each child who walks to school (or partially walk to school e.g. park and stride) will be given a raffle ticket and could win a prize at the end of the week. They are also invited to bring their bike or scooter into school on the day indicated on the table below, with helmets, please. They are encouraged to ‘bling’ their bikes or scooters too! There is an area at the front of school for the bikes and scooters to be stored in the morning. During their sessions, the children will have a helmet safety demonstration and during the week, they will also have a lesson about air pollution to raise awareness and children in Years 4, 5 and 6 will also receive an Anti-Idling workshop on Thursday. If any families have any helmets that are too small, not needed, and not damaged we would appreciate them for our EYFS department. Many thanks.

  Parents evenings: Parent/Teacher meetings will be taking place Monday-Thursday this week.  Details of booking can be found on the school website. If you have not already made your appointment and need support to do so, please call the school office where a member of staff will be happy to assist you. Please can we remind you, there will be NO BOOSTERS taking place next week (this includes before and after school). Our staff look forward to meeting you to give an update on your child’s learning and progress.

  Mother’s Day Gift Room: our Mother’s Day gift room shall be open from Monday to Thursday this week. If you wish for your child to attend, please buy them a ticket on the PTA home page. With this ticket they will be able to attend our PTA shop, chose a gift for a special family member, wrap it up and bring it home to present to someone they love. Thank you to our PTA for organising this lovely vent.

  Year 1/2 CSSP: on Friday the staff from the Croydon Schools Sports Partnership (CSSP) will be in school leading a multiskills session with the children in Year 2in the morning and Year 1 in the afternoon. We are sure they are in for a fun time!

   

  Thank you for your ongoing support. Have a lovely weekend.​

   

   

  

• Week Beginning 14th March 2022

  Sun 13 Mar 2022

  Week beginning 14th March 2022

  Leaders: another exciting week at The Hayes. Our Year 5s have been introduced to their buddies in Reception class and there was much excitement! We do this to help our youngest children grow further in confidence with their social skills on the playground and also to spend some time together throughout the next two years. Of course, it doesn’t only help our youngest children, it also builds leadership skills in our Year 5s and characteristics such as responsibility, teamwork, communication and organisation skills. 
  Also, during the week, Class 10 became Playground Leaders and delivered playground games to Year 1.

  It was definitely a week of building leadership skills for our Year 5s. Self-confidence, problem solving, teamwork and communication skills. So important to master at such a young age.

  Reception: our children in Reception had a visitor this week from the RNLI – for our topic ‘People Who Help Us’. Freya got to dress up in a replica outfit and looked amazing! Next week, we have a dentist and the Police and the following week we have a nurse.

  Welcome! We welcome Mrs Knapman to our staff who is a qualified teacher, working with individual children and small groups. Our children may also be lucky enough to meet her if she teaches their class occasionally. We know you will make her feel welcome.
  Comic Relief: as we said in the last bulletin, Red Nose Day is on Friday 18^th March and throughout the week (mostly on Friday), we will be raising funds to help people live free from poverty, violence, discrimination and this also includes funding organisations that are supporting people in Ukraine and those attempting to cross the border. Whatever you give, no matter how small, we have the power to make a difference. We can change lives. Your child’s class will be fundraising by doing the following sponsorship activities:
  Safari and Rainforest: danceathon.
  Class 1 - obstacle course
  Class 2 - circuit work out
  Class 3 - Imoves 'athon'
  Class 4 – Imoves 'athon'
  Class 5 - sponsored silence
  Class 6 – sponsored ball skills
  Class 7 – sponsored obstacle course
  Class 8- sponsored silence
  Class 9 – sponsored silence
  Class 10 - readathon
  Class 11 – go-athalon
  Class 12 – runathon

  This year, we will be collecting funds via our Just Giving Page which you can get to by clicking on this link. It can also be accessed by our Twitter page as well. Let fundraising begin! Additionally, on the day, we will be fundraising by wearing something funny or red, if your child wishes to do this, please drop £1 into our Just Giving Page. Many, many thanks in advance! Comic Relief Bake Sale: on Friday 18th March, from 3pm in the school playground (front of stage area), the PTA will be holding a RND Cake Bake. Please bring all donations (baked or bought, but nut free!) to the main office, the morning of Friday 18th March.  The funds raised from this bake sale will be split 50/50 between the PTA and Comic relief

  Book Week Cake Bake: well done to the following children who won the Cake Bake competition, prizes will be distributed next week. Well done to all who entered, the cakes looked and I am sure tasted awesome!
  Rainforest: Orla
  Safari: Olive
  Class 1: Amelia
  Class 3: Lara
  Class 4: Amy
  Class 5: Freya (and Rohan)
  Class 6: Darcy
  Class 7: Anabel
  Class 8: Amelia
  Class 9: Wilfred
  Class 10: Florence M
  Class 11: Hugo M
  Class 12: Izzy.
  Messages From the PTA

  Mother’s Day Gift Room: please remember to purchase your child's gift ticket via www.thehayespta.co.uk - products and events. Each gift costs £3 and your child will wrap this gift before bringing it home before Mother’s day. Please remember you can buy more than one gift

   PomPoms: I think we all agree that these look fantastic outside school, but some of them are looking a little worn now (not surprised with the storms!) Please would you make us some more? If you can, please drop them in the box in the main office. There will also be yarn in the box for you to use if you wish. We would like to continue to mark our respects for those who lost their lives to Covid, but we also felt it would be a good idea to have some blue and yellow ones amongst them to show our support for Ukraine. Thank you.

   Our AGM took place via zoom on Monday 7th March and we will be sharing the minutes with you all very soon. We are pleased to announce that Steph Roach was officially voted in as the PTA's new chair as of September 2022.  Congratulations to Steph!

   

  Have a relaxing rest of the weekend.
  The Hayes Team.

   

  

• Week Beginning 7th March

  Sun 06 Mar 2022

  Week Beginning 7^th March 2022

  Book Week: What a wonderful week we have had in school celebrating Book Week. The children looked absolutely fantastic in their costumes on Thursday. Please click on this link to access collages of the day, including our Book Cake Bake. These can be found on our Gallery, on our website and also on our Twitter account, where you will also find a few masked readers – can you tell how they are?!

  At The Hayes we massively value the importance of reading and know that developing this key skill opens the door to so many other areas of learning. Please do find time to listen to your child/ren read and to read to them as much as you can to inspire that love of learning. It is also good for them to see you reading in different contexts, for work, for pleasure, recipes, instructions, etc as this models the importance of this key skill.
  On Friday we enjoyed some fantastic dance and drama workshops from Boom Arts Academy. The children had a great time acting and dancing with a zoo theme. We were also blown away by the amazing entries to the cake decorating competition, such talented and generous bakers and, thanks to your generosity, we raised a whopping £230 for new books for our class book corners. THANK YOU!

  Parent Governor: we would like to thank all those who put their name forward and took the time to complete candidate statements, and those of you who voted in the recent parent governor election. On this occasion, we would like to extend our congratulations to Leyla Dey, who received the most votes and was successfully nominated as Parent Governor. Well done to all and thank you again!
  RND: Red Nose Day is coming on 18^th March. Whatever you give, no matter how small, you can help people live free from poverty, violence and discrimination. This includes funding organisations that are supporting people right now in Ukraine, and those attempting to cross the border. You have the power to make a difference to the lives of millions across the UK and around the world. Together, we can change lives.
  Very soon, you will be informed what your child’s class has chosen for a sponsorship activity and then please click on this link and let fundraising begin!
  On the day (Friday 18^th), we will be fundraising by wearing something funny or red, if your child wishes to do this, please drop £1 into our Just Giving Page. The link will take you there, directly.
  Many, many thanks in advance!

  Parents Evening: will take place, week beginning 21^st March from Monday-Thursday. Next week we will let you know which days each teacher will be available and provide information on how to book your appointment. Please note, there will be no before or after school boosters taking place this week.

  Lexia/ Touch typing club: we are pleased to let you know that as of Monday our Lexia and touch-typing clubs will resume. These clubs are by invitation only and will take place before school in Class 11 as they did previously. We look forward to seeing your children there.
  PTA AGM: The PTA are holding their Annual General Meeting on Monday 7^th March at 1:30pm. This will be via zoom and all parents are welcome to join virtually. If you wish to come along please use the following link to sign in:
  [https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9887112422?pwd=QmFIZUdrcWtLNjhjekNRVHR6R2lkZz09]
  Meeting ID: 988 711 2422
  Passcode: cqt9SH

  Mothers’ Day Gift Room: the PTA will be holding their Mother’s Day gift room between 12 and 1pm during the week beginning 21^st -25^th March. This is an event that allows parents to purchase a ticket online (£3 each) which enables their child/ren to choose and wrap a surprise present to bring home to their mums (or any other important female loved one) for Mother’s day surprise. Tickets are on sale now at www.thehayespta.co.uk if you would like to pay for your child to attend the Mother’s Day gift room.
  Share Your Creativity in the Great Outdoors Photography Competition
  A reminder that our Great Outdoors Seasonal photography competition deadline is nearly upon us: Wednesday 9^th March. So, get out in the great outdoors and enjoy the wonders of nature and wildlife around us!
  What to do: take a photograph that celebrates winter. Photos should feature landscape or portrait photographs of natural settings. It can be of wildlife, woodland, seascape – of anything that depicts winter at its finest.
  Equipment: the photo can be taken on a tablet, phone or camera.
  Winners: there will be one winner from each class, from EYFS, KS1, lower KS2 and upper KS2.
  Prizes: winning photos will take pride of place in our news bulletin, website and Twitter pages. The winning photos will be displayed in a large frame in the school corridor in the form of a collage.
  Terms and Conditions
  *Photograph to be taken by a child (not adult) on either a camera, tablet or smart phone.
  *One entry per child.
  *Photo to have a title.
  *Entrants email to Mrs Staines: wstaines.306@lgflmail.org who is the administrator for this exciting, new competition.
  *With entries (jpg), please state name of child and class.
  *Closing date: Wednesday 9^th March, 12pm
  *Judges: our School Council, Governors and Miss Slade.

  Travel Week: we have another active travel week coming up this half term (Week of 21st-25th March) during this week we shall be holding ‘The Big Walk’ and ‘Wheel week’. During this week the classes will be timetabled to bring in their scooters or bikes and they will be involved in an activity using them during the day (on the playground) and are being encouraged to ‘bling’ them as part of a class parade where they stand to win a class prize. More info to follow shortly from Mrs Draper.

  Ukraine and Russia: many of us will have been watching events in the news with a mixture of shock and horror and we know that some of the footage coming out of Ukraine on the news or in social media may be taking a toll on us. Some of the children have mentioned this conflict in school and, as such, we wanted to share with you some materials that you could use to talk to your children about what is happening. Firstly, the Mental Health organisation ‘Young Minds’ has a parents’ blog with useful advice and tips on talking to young children about the conflict which can be found here How To Talk To Your Child About The War In Ukraine | YoungMinds. Additionally, our Local Authority Education Psychology service have prepared some useful links that you may wish to refer to (see below). Our love and support goes to those who are being affected right now and we keep them in our thoughts as we hope to a speedy end to the conflict.

  Thank you for your ongoing support.

  The Hayes Team

   

  Useful resources/links to help children and young people to understand the war on Ukraine and to address worries.
  *Guidelines for school staff and parents on helping children and young people deal with fears and anxiety about war, conflict and frightening world events.
  https://www.octavopartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Helping-children-to-deal-with-fears-and-anxiety-about-conflict-war-and-frightening-world-events.pdf

  Russia & Ukraine story | Climbing the rainbow

  *Support to explain the difficult concepts associated with the conflict – news delivery designed for children and young people and provided by Newsround:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround#more-stories-2

  *Advice for children and young people if they are upset by the news – provided by Newsround:    https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002

  ‘A delicate balance’: experts’ tips on dealing with Ukraine anxiety in children | Children | The Guardian

  *The government have also posted some guidance on the government’s Education Hub: Help for teachers and families to talk to pupils about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how to help them avoid misinformation. - The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)

  *Child Bereavement UK: Supporting a child after a frightening event. A short film sharing ways adults can support children who are worried about frightening events reported in the media.  
  
  See below for recently posted tips for talking with children: 
  Save the Children share five tools that caregivers can use to approach the conversation with children:
  1. Make time and listen when your child wants to talk: Give children the space to tell you what they know, how they feel and to ask you questions. They may have formed a completely different picture of the situation than you have. Take the time to listen to what they think, and what they have seen or heard.
  2. Tailor the conversation to the child: Be mindful of the child’s age as you approach the conversation with them. Young children may not understand what conflict or war means and require an age-appropriate explanation. Be careful not to over-explain the situation or go into too much detail as this can make children unnecessarily anxious. Younger children may be satisfied just by understanding that sometimes countries fight. Older children are more likely to understand what war means but may still benefit from talking with you about the situation. In fact, older children will often be more concerned by talk of war because they tend to understand the dangers better than younger children do.
  3. Validate their feelings: It is important that children feel supported in the conversation. They should not feel judged or have their concerns dismissed. When children have the chance to have an open and honest conversation about things upsetting them, it can create a sense of relief and safety.
  4. Reassure them that adults all over the world are working hard to resolve this: Remind children that this is not their problem to solve. They should not feel guilty about playing, seeing their friends, and doing the things that make them happy. Stay calm when you approach the conversation. Children often copy the sentiments of their caregivers – if you are uneasy about the situation, chances are your child will be uneasy as well.
  5. Give them a practical way to help: Support children who want to help. Children who have the opportunity to help those affected by the conflict can feel like they are part of the solution. Children can create fundraisers, send letters to local decision-makers or create drawings calling for peace.
  *How to talk to children about Russia invading Ukraine in an honest but reassuring way: article by Kasia Delgado, ‘i’ newspaper 25.02.22 
  -Be honest – be aware of misinformation

  -Try to seem calm even if you don’t feel it – be aware of overhearing

  -Listen to children – acknowledge and validate feelings

  -Don’t bring it up if children seem uninterested – watch and wait

  -Maintaining normality helps children to feel secure if the world seems chaotic.  

  Collated by the Croydon Educational Psychology Service February 2022