Cognita has engaged the child psychology expert Professor Tanya Byron to do a special video podcast on how parents can help their children, and themselves, manage anxiety at this stage of further change as lockdown begins to lift and schools reopen.

Tanya is a well-known clinical psychologist specialising in children, author and commentator. “Family mantras” with a calming effect and creating your own “language as a family” are among the strategies that she shares in our ‘Challenging Education’ broadcast, available to view in video form here and to listen as a podcast here (and on all podcast platforms).

Together with our Group Director of Wellbeing Beth Kerr and Education Director Simon Camby, Tanya looks at the emotional impact of Covid, lockdown and the return to school on our children and how we as parents and teachers can support them as they adjust to yet another seismic change in a very short space of time. She focuses on the need for routine, for open lines of communication and the need for children to be given space to discuss any concerns or fears they have.

Released every two weeks, Challenging Education examines the challenges facing global education today, how we can challenge established practice to achieve better outcomes and better wellbeing for our students and teachers alike. Links to this and other resources can be found on our website.