It is very normal (and healthy) to have a lot of different feelings about what is happening at the moment.  You might be feeling any of the following

• Worried, scared, confused, uncertain, angry and lost.
• Happy about having had more quality time with family.
• Relaxed because you’ve had more time alone and at home.
• Stressed about school and keeping up with work.
• Curious about what will happen next.
• Bored of hearing about COVID-19, social distancing and regulations.
• Nothing.  If you’ve been feeling very stressed or worried about something for a long time you might start feeling less, or feeling numb to it all.  This is called “Crisis fatigue”.

Your feelings and thoughts about what is happening will probably change as the situation continues.  There is no right or wrong way to feel.  Allow yourself the time to reflect on what’s going on for you, recognise how you’re feeling and try some of the tips in the resources below to respond to it in a way that is helpful and meaningful for you.

Practical tips:

• CoronaVirus Anxiety: 4 Ways to cope with Fear
• F.A.C.E Covid 19
• Crisis fatigue and the COVID-19 pandemic

More academic articles:

• Understanding the Mental Health and Social Impact of the Coronavirus: Finding the Middle Path: This is a great article explaining the science behind our reactions to epidemics and practical ways we can find balance.
• The psychological impact of quarantine - Tips on how to reduce the psychological impact of quarantine.

Books:

• Something Bad Happened: A Kid’s Guide to Coping with events in the News, Dawn Huebner -Ages 6-12. How to process different world events.
• What To Do When You’re Scared & Worried: A Guide for Kids, James J Crist -Ages 9-13. A help guide to processing fears and worries.
• Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids, Carol McCloud -Encourages positive behavior and expressing kindness and appreciation
• How are you Peeling: Foods with Moods, Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers -Explores how emotions look through pictures of Foods. A good way to talk about emotions with young kids.
• The Way I Feel, Janan Cain -Explores Feelings. A good way to talk about emotions with young kids.

Not found the answer you were looking for?  See some of the other questions on here this page for lots more good advice.

Lots of people find that practicing mindfulness and/or meditating can help them to be more aware of how they're feeling and what's going on in their head.

Related resources:

Links to information about what mindfulness is:

• What is Mindfulness?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxyVCjp48S4 - Monkey mind, headspace
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOJTbWC-ULc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6T02g5hnT4 -
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzR62JJCMBQ - TEDtalk: all it takes is 10 minutes - Andy Puddicombe

Links to free meditations you can try at home:

• Free meditations
• https://centerformsc.org/self-compassion-teens-mfy-meditations
• https://www.mindful.org/category/meditation/guided-meditation
• https://soundcloud.com/withandrewjohnson/free-relax-with-andrew-johnson

Meditation and Mindfulness apps you can use:

• Headspace
• Breathr App
• Smiling mind app

Worry is a natural state that we all get to experience.  While we cannot stop worry, we can learn to manage it and "be with" it in a healthy way.  It can help to bring some curiosity to your worries so you can get a better understanding of what it looks like.  Channel your inner scientist: what does my worry look like?  What are the thoughts associated with my worries?  What behaviours are connected to my worries?  What is in my control?  What is out of my control?  Is this worry helpful?

Related resources:

• F.A.C.E Covid 19, What is Mindfulness?, Free meditations 

Most people will be returning to school in September.  However, there will be a small number of people who are still studying from home.  There will also be a lot of people who have to self-isolate for 14 days as a result of coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19, travelling to a high -risk area or because they have some symptoms.  So you may still have times when you need to stay at home from school.

It’s difficult to keep a routine when you’re not attending school regularly.  It is also difficult if you have to change your routine for a short period of time (EG for 14 days of quarantine).

Here are some practical tips to help you manage your time and keep a regular routine at times when you’re not in school:

• Travel to school - Try and create a daily commute to and from school by going for a walk or bike ride at the start or end of the day. Some of you will not be leaving the house. If this is the case for you try to start and end the day with a ritual that you enjoy doing. This could be having a cup of tea with a family member or doing an online exercise class. 
• Bedtime - It is easy to fall into a habit of not going to bed on time as it feels like you are on a holiday. Try to make sure you stick to your usual bedtime routines and set an alarm to wake you up for the school day. 
• Mealtimes - Maybe your parents have to work from home and are finding it hard to make meals for the family. Try and help out with this and make meals or contribute to this so the family can have a healthy routine of eating together. 
• Give yourself a break - Make sure you take regular breaks from the screen between your online lessons. Avoid sitting behind the computer to play a game or phone a friend between lessons. Move away from your study area and take a break on the garden of balcony. 
• Your study space - Is it possible to create study zones away from your sleeping/resting zones? This will help you separate the parts of your day that you study and sleep. 
• Be kind to yourself and listen to your body and mind when it all feels too much to manage. This is a sign that you need to turn off your phone or computer and take some time alone. You might then want to read a book or listen to music!

Related resources:

• Forest - stay focused - Helps manage screen time and task management. Grow a virtual forest with friends
• Goodtime  - Helps manage time. Can be used with the pomodoro technique.
• Study Bunny  - Study with a friend and earn rewards.

This is a worry we’ve heard a lot over the last few months, so don't worry, you're not alone!  The unique circumstances we find ourselves in mean that maintaining relationships has been a bit different to what we are used to.  During lockdown, we couldn’t see our friends every day, so we had to make an active effort to stay connected.  For some people that was really easy, but others have found it harder and might be feeling more disconnected than usual.  Some people still won’t be socialising outside of school and will still need to keep connected in other ways.

It is worth putting time aside to reach out to your friends.  Could you set up a time to chat online or play a game online?  Can you meet up in person to socialise, whilst still sticking to the regulations?  It is also important to remember the type of friend you want to be.  Do you value being funny?  Being kind?  Being fun?  Being interesting?  You can think of an action that is in line with the type of friends you want to be.  For example, if you value being funny, you send a hilarious meme to your friends.  At times it might take a bit more effort to stay connected, either online or in person, but if you put time into it, you can keep a strong connection with your friends!

Everyone is adapting to this situation and it will take a little while to settle back into the rhythm of being in school more regularly.  If things feel different, or you’re finding it hard to settle in to the new year, be patient and kind with yourself and your friends.  Take time to reconnect in person, but also keep up any online social activities you’ve been doing during lockdown - especially if you or any of your friends are not able to be in school physically.

Related resources:

• Top 10 co-op games to play with friends

Sleep is really important for your physical and mental health, your development and growth.  But worry, stress and being out of your usual routine, can all make it harder to get good sleep - a lot of us experiencing all of those things at the moment, so getting enough sleep is a real challenge.

Related resources:

Links to more information about why sleep is important and how much you need:

• 10 reasons why sleep is important
• How much sleep do teens need

Practical steps you can take to get more sleep:

• Sleep guidelines during covid-19 isolation
• Seven tips to get your sleep cycle back on track during lockdown

We've been trying out a few different apps that you might find helpful at the moment.  Here's a list of our top recommendations:

General wellbeing and managing your mood:

• https://woebot.io/
• https://www.superbetter.com/

Creating routine and establishing new habits:

• https://habitchallenge.co/

Meditation/mindfulness

• Headspace
• Breathr App
• Smiling mind app

Dealing with self harm:

• https://calmharm.co.uk/

Bereavement/grief:

• https://apartofme.app/

Do you need help to feel safe or well again? There are people here to help!

The traffic light system in the link below gives you advice on how to stay safe and well (in the green zone) and what to do when you need help (in the red zone). 

Page 1 Green zone: When I am feeling good and safe in my environment.

Page 2 Amber zone: When I am feeling sometimesuncomfortable and not safe in my environment. 

Page 3 Red zone: When I am feeling uncomfortable and not safe in my environment.

Traffic Light Plan

It hurts when you lose someone.  It's deeply upsetting to lose someone you were really close to, like a parent or close friend, but it can also be difficult when someone you weren't so close to dies, like someone in your school, a friend's parent or even someone famous.  It's OK to feel sad and in pain about any kind of loss, and to give yourself time to grieve and to process what has happened.

Don't go through it alone - think about who you have around you who you can rely on to be there for you as you go through this. Remember that "being there for you" doesn't have to mean physically being in the same room, it can be talking online.  If you need more support, contact the Student Wellbeing Department to talk or consider accessing professional support from outside school.

Here are some links to some more information about losing someone;

What is grief and loss?

• https://teenshealth.org/en/teens/someone-died.html?WT.ac=t-ra#catproblems
• https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/grief-and-loss/

Ideas for how to look after yourself when you lose someone:

• https://whatsyourgrief.com/self-care-ideas-for-grievers
• https://teenshealth.org/en/teens/coping-grief.html?WT.ac=ctg#catproblems
• https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/10/how-to-cope-with-grief-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsYL4PC0hyk

How to support a friend who has lost someone:

• https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a32066718/how-to-support-a-friend-coronavirus-death/

Links to some sources for online counselling:

• https://www.betterhelp.com/#
• https://truman-group.com/
• https://www.kindertelefoon.nl/

Finding hope and feeling positive again:

• https://youtu.be/LIWQ0mPAc6E

Boredom is a tough one if you’re spending more time at home and less time out socialising, or if you’re still in quarantine and not yet able to return to school or go out to see friends.

• Learn a skill - at sites like Skill Share to see what free courses are available.

• Learn a language - try apps like Duolingo or Memrise to brush up on your language skills.

• Create - draw, paint, craft, sew, sculpt, play music, build something, just make something new! Click here for more ideas.

• Keep a journal - this is a unique time and we’re never going to experience anything like it again.  Why not write down your thoughts, feelings about it each day?

• Create a gratitude jar - write down something you’re grateful for every day and put them in a jar or box as a reminder.  Click here to find out how.

• Get active - try some home workouts like PE with Joe or set yourself a target to learn something new, like doing the splits or planking for 5 minutes.

• Do something you’ve been putting off - tidy your desk, sort out your clothes, clean out under your bed or organise your bookshelves.

• Visit a museum - click here for a list of virtual museum tours.

• Explore the world -  click here for virtual tours of 10 of the world’s natural wonders.

• Watch your favourite film/series with friends using Netflix Party (or similar).

• Read a book - here’s a list of 100 books to read in a lifetime for ideas.

• Post something to someone - show someone you’re thinking of them by writing a letter or sending them a parcel, a postcard or a photo.

• Go outside everyday - move, get some fresh air and be in a different space.  Try doing another activity outside, like reading a book on a balcony or work out in the garden.

• Make a lockdown Bucket List - why not write a list of all the things you want to do while you’re at home and cross them off as you get through them.

Related resources:

• List of language learning apps
• 10 fun things to pass the time at home
• Making the most of the COVID-19 lockdown (point three on this list is about gratitude, so scroll down if you’re only interested in that part)
• 20 ideas to stay sane during social distancing

Embrace boredom - it’s good for you!

• The Unbelievable Benefits of Being Bored
• Ted talk: From boredom to brilliance

It's very natural to be worried.  We can’t stop ourselves from worrying, but we can learn to manage it and "be with" it in a healthy way.

None of us really knows how it will feel to be in full time school again until we’re actually there and doing it.  This feels different for different people.  It may be helpful to spend some time working out what you’re feeling and what aspect of the situation is causing you to feel that way.  For example, are you scared about travelling to school?  Are you stressed about how much work you’ll have to do?  Are you anxious about being able to keep 1.5 metres away from your teachers and other adults in school?  Does it feel weird that parents, sports coaches, music teachers and other non-ISH staff still aren’t allowed to visit school?

It might help to write down your thoughts, brainstorm your feelings or talk it through with someone.  Understanding what you’re feeling and where those feelings come from, means you can start to work out how to manage them.  For example, what aspects of the situation can you control?  What can you do about the things you do have control over?  Are there practical steps you can take to make the situation feel more comfortable?  What can you do to let go of the things you don’t have control over or start to accept them?

Remember a member of the Student Wellbeing team will be present in school when you return. You are always welcome to visit them in B.005/B.007 or contact them via email at studentwellbeing@ishthehague.nl

Here are links to resources that you might find helpful.

Specific information about adapting to the “new normal”

• https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/im-not-ready-go-back-normal
• https://youtu.be/wfMAKEZ0D5Y

General information and preparing for school if you’re anxious (not COVID-19 specific, but still relevant):

• https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/back-to-school-tips-if-youre-feeling-anxious/

One of the great attributes we see in students is the ability to adapt to new situations. This is especially true of international students like you! You are more skilled than most at adapting to new situations. Perhaps you moved countries before? Or schools? What skills did you use to help you in those times? Remember…..if you’ve done this before, you can do it again!

Here's an interesting article about how international (or 'third culture') kids might be coping with the current situation better than others;

• https://cristalindberg.com/2020/03/30/the-kids-are-just-fine-why-third-culture-kids-will-manage-the-covid-19-crisis-better/