As the spread of Coronavirus continues to dominate the news, the wellbeing of our young people is as important as ever. Our Director of Wellbeing, Beth Kerr, has put together some top tips for parents who are concerned about the impact that this might be having on their children.

This comes after a YouGov/Cognita poll found that 80% of British children aged 6 to 15 are worried about coronavirus, rising to 93% in 12 year-olds.

Beth Kerr, Director of Wellbeing at Cognita, said: “We need to listen to our children. They’re telling us that they’re worried and we need to take that seriously. They are surrounded by news coverage and conversation about coronavirus, so we must be mindful of what they are taking in without us even realising it. The most important role we can play as parents and responsible adults is to provide them with calm, accurate information that is age-appropriate to help reassure them.”

Chris Jansen, Group CEO of Cognita, said: “As a global family of schools, we’ve been managing our response to coronavirus in other parts of the world, particularly southeast Asia, for months. We’re drawing upon this experience to help our 40 schools here in the UK respond to the unfolding situation and support parents. Keeping the focus on children’s emotional wellbeing has never been more important.”

Beth’s top tips for parents are available to download here.