Supporting Student Anxiety on the Return to School

A Practical Teacher Quick Guide (Transitions & Change)

Charlotte White - Think Different, Teach Better

 

Why This Matters

The return to school brings change: new classrooms, teachers, peers, routines and expectations. For many students, these changes trigger anxiety — not because they are unwilling, but because their nervous system is responding to uncertainty.

Anxiety is not a behaviour choice. It is a physiological and cognitive response to perceived threat or lack of control.

 

What Anxiety Might Look Like in the Classroom

  • Difficulty starting tasks
  • Repeated reassurance-seeking ("Is this right?")
  • Avoidance (toileting, sharpening pencils, helping others)
  • Perfectionism or refusal to submit work
  • Emotional responses that feel out of proportion
  • Freezing, silence or withdrawal
  • Physical complaints (headaches, stomach aches)

During transitions, you may also notice:

  • Hypervigilance
  • Increased control behaviours
  • Resistance to change
  • Reduced independence

 

The Inverted Triangle (Dr Claire Hayes)

Understanding How We Accidentally Maintain — or Reduce — Anxiety

Top of the Triangle: Short-Term Relief

These responses reduce anxiety quickly but strengthen it over time:

  • Reassurance ("Don’t worry, you’re fine")
  • Avoidance (removing the task)
  • Rescue (checking, fixing, explaining again)

Message to the brain: I can’t cope without certainty or help.

Middle of the Triangle: Supported Discomfort

Support remains, but discomfort is tolerated:

  • "This feels tricky — let’s do the first step together"
  • "You don’t need to feel confident to begin"

Message to the brain: I can feel uncomfortable and still cope.

 

Bottom of the Triangle: Capacity Building

The focus shifts to independence and tolerance:

  • Gradual exposure
  • Reduced reassurance
  • Effort-focused feedback

Message to the brain: I can handle this.

 

What Teachers Can Do with the Inverted Triangle

  • Pause and notice: Am I rescuing because the student needs it — or because discomfort is hard to sit with?
  • Reduce the step size, not the expectation
  • Praise tolerance, not calm
    • "You stayed with that"
    • "You kept going even when it felt hard"

 

Uncertainty Training: What It Is

Uncertainty training teaches students that:

  • Not knowing is uncomfortable — but safe
  • Mistakes are not dangerous
  • Anxiety rises and falls on its own

Avoiding uncertainty strengthens anxiety. Tolerating it builds resilience.

What Uncertainty Training Looks Like in Practice

Teacher Language

Instead of:

  • "Don’t worry"
  • "I’ll check it"

Try:

  • "It’s okay not to know yet"
  • "You can start without certainty"

 

Gradual Reduction of Reassurance

  • "Check the success criteria"
  • "Try the first step"
  • "Have a go — we’ll review after"

 

Planned, Low-Risk Uncertainty

  • Open-ended tasks
  • Multiple correct answers
  • Silent thinking time
  • Small, time-limited challenges

 

Naming Anxiety

Teach students to label thoughts:

"This is anxiety — not a fact"

 

Body-Based Support During Uncertainty

  • Slow breathing
  • Grounding
  • Movement breaks

Script:

"My heart is racing. That’s anxiety. I can stay and breathe."

What This Looks Like Across a School Day

  • Routines are predictable, not rigid
  • Teachers coach rather than rescue
  • Discomfort is brief and supported
  • Success = engagement, not certainty

 

What This Is NOT

  • Throwing students into distress
  • Withholding care or support
  • Creating chaos or unpredictability
  • Ignoring anxiety

This approach is intentional, gradual, and compassionate.

 

One Key Takeaway

Our goal is not to remove discomfort — it is to help students learn that they can cope with it.

 

Recommended Reading & Resources

  • Finding Hope in the Age of Anxiety — Dr Claire Hayes
  • Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD — Eli Lebowitz
  • Smiling Mind (Educator resources)
  • Beyond Blue — Anxiety in children
  • The Resilience Project

 

 References

Hayes, C. (2017). Finding hope in the age of anxiety: Recognise it, acknowledge it and take your power back. Gill Books

Conniff, S. (2026). The uncertainty toolkit: Worry less and do more by learning to cope with the unknown (Unabridged audiobook). Pan Macmillan.