Families have been attending outdoor courses to offer them time together after the lockdown. 

The courses are run by the Link Academy Trust, a group of 15 small schools, many of them in Teignbridge.

One of them is Hennock Community Primary School, where, in nearby Dartmoor woodland, children and parents have been invited to get creative, articulate feelings and learn strategies that nurture mental wellbeing.

A spokesman said: ‘For many families, lockdown made it tricky to connect with special people. For some, it heightened the challenges they already feel.

‘Households have been put under additional pressure for all Covid-19 has invited us all consider how we sustain our mental wellbeing and support one another. Some families have signed up to the Life after Lockdown course because they thrived at home during lid: ‘On our courses, we offer a compassionate space to explore the impact of issues; we learn how we all respond to challenge as human beings and discover bespoke answers to what will support families in the now.’ 

Over lockdown. The Inclusion Hub supported families directly, providing an essential link between home and school as well as being the first step to specialist professional agencies.

For the past two years, The Link Academy Trust Inclusion Hub have been running courses that provide early help for children and their parents. Children’s behaviour is viewed as communication and set in the context of their story. On the courses, pupils develop their understanding of big feelings like anxiety and anger that can elicit the fight/flight response. They learn techniques to calm the nervous system and find balance and well-being. 

One parent, Nic Brunsdon, said: I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in this course with my son.

‘We have both felt very supported and have learnt what happens in our brains when we have big feelings and the tools to manage them.’