First PGL holiday coming up - how to deal with homesickness?

[chicaguapa]

DD is going for the 2 night introductory holiday at half term, 2 days after her 9th birthday. She really really wants to go, has been on at me since the y6 class did a presentation on their trip during assembly. Though she's never stayed away at someone's house without us, other than at family's houses. This is because she worries about being upset during the night etc. and just gets herself in a tizzy.

She's now really worried about being dreadfully homesick at bedtime on the PGL holiday. I've reassured her that someone really kind will be there to help her feel better, she can phone home in the middle of the night if necessary, and the sooner she gets to sleep the less time she'll spend feeling homesick. And that hopefully she'll be so tired, she'll fall asleep immediately .

Tbh though, I AM a little bit worried. She does have a tendancy to focus on the negative and can often stay awake for hours at night worrying about the smallest thing. Any tried and tested things we can do? I was thinking of whether to put a card/ letter in her bag that she can read if she's upset.

dd(9) is about to go on her second , first time was a 2 nighter with Brownies most of whom she barely knew. This time is with school for 3 nights. Will your dd know anyone with her ? The staff will be very used to dealing with such issues and the day is so busy that they tend to get tired and have little time to fret. dd has chosen a cuddly toy to take.

Thanks. I've been doing some research and she'll take something from her bedroom as well as her cuddly toy, duvet & pillow. So hopefully it won't seem so alien to her. She won't know anyone but I'm guessing all the other kids will be in the same boat. I'll just have to cross everything and hope for the best. At least it's only 2 nights.

We had similar worries about our DD when she went on her school residential. She was a bit wobbly before she went but had an absolute ball. She was too tired to worry about us. Admitedlly she was with people she knew but, children are great at making friends.
Don't phone by the way, it really does make it worse but the card sounds great.

Thanks. I wasn't going to phone, but she wanted to know if she'd be able to phone me if she was hysterical at 2am! She has ASD tendancies which makes things a little bit harder and she can be difficult to calm down with the usual methods. I know that hearing my voice will help reassure her that we're still around and she's not alone in the world etc. (She really IS that dramatic!)DS is desperate to go too, but he's too young. I know he'd also feel homesick but that one of the staff would be able to successfully comfort him. It just feels a bit different with DD.

She just needs to do it once to know that she'll be okay and to give her the confidence to do it again. I'll do a couple of letters/cards, one for each night so I can be really encouraging on the second night that she's made it that far!

my dd was like this for her first school residential trip. I gave her a few photos of home, pets etc to remind her of us and put a few little treats in her case. Got a few people to send postcards during the week. Talking through her worries helped her rather than just ignoring them. Also realising that many others would be in same boat. Once they get there it is so structured they are on the whole fine. Is there any chance of her doing a sleepover with a friend/relative before she goes as a try out ?