What to do if your daughter is feeling anxious during lockdown

Your daughter is bound to feel anxious during lockdown, in fact it is a very familiar feeling that a lot of people are facing during this difficult time. We're all dealing with something that's never happened before and is slowly becoming the new normal, and sadly this includes the feeling of anxiety.

The best advice I offer parents is to limit your daughter's access to news channels, as it can be very easy currently to feel overwhelmed. Personally for me it makes me feel anxious seeing the number of deaths discussed on the news daily so it could very well be the same for your daughter. I try to avoid Coronavirus on Social Media too – information there is often inaccurate.

Keep having honest conversations and keep communication open. For example 'I feel anxious too, but there are some things that we can't control'. It's best to focus on the things that you can control, rather than the big questions that are still very much up in the air.

Something that really helps for me is establishing a routine and that includes going for a walk everyday or some other outdoor activity to help your daughter get fresh air. Our PE Department is coming up with these crazy and exciting challenges to keep everyone on their feet, so it's worth checking our Twitter feed to see what these challenges are.

Talking about other things happening in the world – even if it is new plants appearing in the garden – and encouraging hobbies may help direct their mind in a different direction. Family FaceTime and Zoom calls are helpful too.

Our Guided Home Learning is a whole new way of learning and our girls have adapted to it brilliantly, but it's worth remembering that with this new system it can take a little longer to do certain projects. So if your daughter is taking a while to do some work, the teacher will be taking the same amount of time too. It's a slower working pace so it's worth accepting this way of working and making it the new normal.

As parents we have to be careful not to offload our own anxieties on to our children to try not to exacerbate the concerns that they already have. We can't make the anxiety go away. Be careful with your language, be honest and offer support when it's needed. Remind them that it's ok to feel how they feel and that they are not alone.