How to talk to your kids about back to school nerves
Schools are due back soon in Surrey - here are some tips for handling back to school anxiety.
Schools, parents and pupils in Surrey are preparing for the new school year, but for many this can be a nerve-wracking time.
According to Department for Education data, external, Surrey pupils missed 5.8% of school sessions during the 2025 autumn term.
This is below the national average but the figure remains above the county's pre-pandemic level of 4.3% from 2019, after the Surrey absence rate peaked at 7.0% in 2022.
In the autumn term 2025, 15.1% of pupils were classed as persistently absent, meaning they missed more than one in ten school sessions.
Aoife Kearney-Grieve, a cognitive behavioural therapist at Mindworks Surrey said there was a lot that that goes into school absences but anxiety was definitely a factor.
"Covid had a very big impact, especially for those that were going through their developmental stages," she said.
"They missed out on things like socialisation, communication, just even figuring out how school works in general."
Mindworks Surrey, an NHS-led mental health service for children and young people, has launched Small Steps Back to School, external - a campaign offering practical advice on common back-to-school concerns.
