Heads Together -School Visit

As a part of the Heads Together Campaign spearheaded by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in which Best Beginnings is a proud partner, today the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex to engage with young people to find out the different pressures they face when going through big changes in their lives.

Their Royal Highnesses are joining in on a lesson run by a group of Peer Mentors within the school on “Big Change”. They are also joining the students in the school assembly where speeches and performances are done by the students about coping with big changes in their lives.

Why talk about change?

The heart of talking about coping with change is to create open channels of communication within our environment. The challenges faced by young people are unique and stem from a variety of physical, social and emotional changes that take place during their developmental years. These changes, while having an impact on the mental and emotional well- being, may also trigger mental health problems in young people.

Being able to openly talk about these changes, whether it is family problems, academic challenges or identity confusions, are shown to help young people cope with these changes more effectively and lessen likelihood of developing a mental health problems.

The Importance of Communication

Best Beginnings is a strong advocate for fostering positive communicative relationships with our children at a very early age; even before they are born. From our Baby Buddy app, you can see how babies respond to communication in the womb here.  Here's a short video of how a baby reacts to sounds from his father. 

Baby Communication: Talking to Joshua, at 7½ weeks from Best Beginnings on Vimeo.

As endorsed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, here are some top 10 tips on how to talk with your child about big changes in their lives.

Learning how to communicate with your child helps to lay a foundation for healthy communication between parents and children. This will encourage children to share their experiences and challenges during their developmental ages with you, promoting emotional and mental well being. For further tips, tricks and support of how to engage with your baby, download the Best Beginnings’ Baby Buddy App FREE today from the Apple Store or Google Play or you can get the web version of the app.